tfct 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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PRESENTED  BY 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 

R L 

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N , 


■■ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/missionarytalesfOObarb 


<1% 


A 


T 


MISSIONARY  TALES 


FOR 


LITTLE  LISTENERS. 


M.  A.  S.  BARBEll. 


REVISED  AND  ENLARGED  BY  THE  EDITOR. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 


Stereotyped  by  E.  C.  Allen,  No.  51  Commerce  Street. 
Philadelphia. 


CONTENTS. 


The  Negro  Village 

Egede  

The  Three  Sisters 

Story  of  Mrs.  Judson 

Dusselthal  Abbey 

The  Panorama 

Leang  Afa 

Heathen  Superstitions 

The  Alpine  School 

Jerusalem  . ' 

Little  Ellinor’s  Prayer 

Rarotonga 

The  Jews  at  Shiraz 

The  Rechabites 

Skenando,  the  White  Man’s  Friend 
True  Story  of  a Young  Jew  . . . 

Girls’  Schools  in  India 


5 

IS 

35 

40 

49 

62 

72 

84 

95 

108 

120 

132 

148 

159 

163 

171 

177 


3 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year 
1848,  by  A.  W.  Mitchell,  ]\I.  D.,  in  the  office  of 
the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  Dis- 
trict of  Pennsylvania. 


4 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


THE  NEGRO  VILLAGE. 


Africa  is  a beautiful  country ; stately  trees 
a hundred  feet  in  height,  the  pullom,  the 
tamarind,  the  locust,  the  delicately  tinted 
cashew,  and  that  renowned  tree,  which  all 
my  little  readers  must  have  heard  of,  the 
lofty  palm,  overshadow  the  land ; the  ground 
is  strewn  with  flowers,  of  colours  far  more 
brilliant  than  any  which  peep  forth  in  the 
cool  fields,  and  amongst  the  fresh  grass  of 
our  native  country ; blue,  scarlet,  purple, 
they  hang  like  silken  streamers  from  the 
lofty  branches  of  the  trees,  or  spread  like  a 
rich  and  variegated  carpet  over  the  ground  ; 
plants,  such  as  we  keep  with  the  greatest 
care  in  hot-houses,  spring  up  wdierever  they 
can  find  space:  green  and  blue  lizards,  and 
golden  with  brown  spots,  glitter  on  the 
stones,  and  the  air  resounds  with  the  song- 
of  the  palm  bird,  and  widow  bird,  and  the 
humming  of  innumerable  insects  floating  bv 
1 * 5 ‘ 


6 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


in  the  sunshine,  while  monkeys  and  parrots 
chatter  aniono;  the  trees. 

The  inliabitants,  however,  of  this  fine  coun- 
try, arc,  for  tlie  most  part,  idolatrous,  igno- 
rant, and  cruel;  taught  by  the  evil  and  wicked 
example  of  white  men,  in  former  times  and 
even  now  they  steal  and  sell  each  other  for 
slaves. 

In  their  savage  state  the  Africans  may  be 
said  to  worship  the  devil:  they  have  an  idea 
that  he  “ lives  in  the  bush,”  as  they  call  their 
vast  forests  ; they  know  nothing  of  God,  their 
kind  and  merciful  Creator,  or  of  his  love  and 
care,  over  his  ungrateful  creatures;  but  they 
pay  all  sorts  of  respect  to  their  Fetishes,  for 
so  the  things  they  worship,  are  called,  under 
the  fear  that  if  they  do  not,  they  will  receive, 
harm  from  them.  An  English  traveller,  who 
was  making  a voyage  down  the  Niger,  saw 
one  of  the  negroes,  when  they  came  to  a 
j)articular  place  in  the  river,  rise  up  in  the 
boat,  and  utter  occasionally  a loud  cry ; 
whenever  an  echo  was  returned,  half  a glass 
of  rum,  and  a piece  of  yam  and  fish  wmre 
thrown  into  the  water ; the  Englishman,  who 
had  often  sufiered  for  want  of  provisions,  was 
not  very  well  pleased  at  seeing  the  food 
thrown  into  the  wmter  in  this  manner,  so  he 
asked  the  negro  what  he  meant  by  it.  “Did 
you  not  hear  the  Fetish,”  replied  he;  “ if  we 
do  not  feed  him,  and  do  good  for  him,  he  will 
kill  us,  or  make  us  poor  and  sick.”  So  the 
poor  creature  mistook  the  echo  of  his  own 
call  for  the  voice  of  the  Fetish.  In  some 


THE  NEGHO  VILLAGE. 


7 


places  they  worship  the  tiger ; in  others,  the 
snake,  the  alligator,  the  lizard,  and  the  hyiena ; 
sataka,  or  ofierings  to  the  devil,  are  every- 
where to  be  seen : once  a missionary  saw  a 
party  of  negroes  ofiering  a sacrifice  to  three 
cannon  balls  and  two  decanter  stoppers ! 
Many  other  practices  of  their  folly  and  super- 
stition I could  recount  to  you ; they  are  also 
sometimes  very  cruel;  in  one  of  the  States,  it 
is  the  custom  for  the  king  to  water  the  graves 
of  his  ancestors  with  the  blood  of  people 
killed  on  purpose ; and  their  huts  and  walls 
are  ornamented  with  skulls  and  human  bones. 
But  we  must  not  suppose,  that  these  people 
are  worse  than  others ; our  ancestors  once 
did  things  almost  as  wicked  and  cruel,  and 
we  should  have  done  the  same,  had  it  not 
pleased  God  to  teach  us  better ; we  should, 
therefore,  pity  the  heathen,  and  not  despise 
them. 

Near  Sierra  Leone,  (a  British  settlement 
on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,)  situated 
amopg  the  mountains  which  surround  it, 
stands  a pretty  village  called  Gloucester 
Town;  here  huts,  gardens,  and  cultivated 
lands,  bespeak  a happy  and  industrious  set 
of  people.  A little  while  ago,  they  were 
worshippers  of  Fetishes,  as  ignorant  and 
foolish  as  any  of  their  countrymen.  But 
having  been  carried  off  as  slaves,  they  were 
brought  here  by  the  English  ships  which 
rescued  them.  When  they  first  arrive,  they 
are  generally  in  a miserable  state,  but  they 
acquire  by  degrees  better  habits : First,  they 


8 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


learn  to  dress  themselves,  in  a neat  and  pro- 
per manner : in  their  savage  state  the  negroes 
are  very  fond  of  finery : a European  travel- 
ler, who  was  journeying  througli  the  interior 
of  Africa,  says,  that  in  order  to  get  food,  he 
sold  the  labels  of  his  jars,  and  a few  days 
after,  he  saw  some  of  the  natives  strutting 
about,  with  the  little  pieces  of  tin,  on  which 
was  written,  “ Concentrated  Gravy,”  “ Es- 
sence of  Anchovies,”  &c.,  stuck  on  their 
heads,  and  which  they  doubtless  fancied  to 
be  most  s]dendid  and  becoming  ornaments : 
a string  of  blue  glass  beads,  such  as  you 
dress  your  doll  in,  is  considered  a rich  pre- 
sent; and  when  the  English  travellers  have 
no  more  of  these  left,  they  often  cut  the 
bright  brass  buttons  off  their  coats,  in  order 
to  purchase  the  favour  of  the  negro  kings,  or 
get  provisions  when  their  own  are  exhausted. 
Do  you  think  this  is  very  foolish  '!  it  seems 
so  indeed  to  us  ; but  lam  afraid  we  should 
appear  equally  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  wiser 
and  better  judging  people,  when  we  decorate 
ourselves  with  all  sorts  of  foolish  finery,  or- 
naments, and  trinkets.  What  is  the  real  dif- 
ference between  a blue  glass  bead,  and  one 
of  any  other  colour?  many  of  our  vain  and 
useless  decorations,  make  us  appear  quite  as 
silly,  as  the  savage,  when  he  was  displaying 
his  taste,  in  “ Concentrated  Gravy,”  and 
Essence  of  Anchovies.”  But  though  the 
negroes  are  so  fond  of  finery,  they  have  sel- 
dom an  idea  of  dressing  themselves  with  pro- 
priety ; among  their  friends,  at  Sierra  Leone, 


THE  NEGEO  VILLAGE. 


9 


however,  they  soon  learn  to  do  so ; and  to 
build  houses,  cultivate  the  ground,  and  prac- 
tise useful  trades ; so  that  in  the  process  of 
, time,  instead  of  wild  and  ferocious  heathens, 
they  become,  as  I have  before  told  you,  the 
industrious  and  happy  inhabitants  of  a plea- 
sant village,  among  the  mountains  of  their 
own  country.  Many  villages,  such  as  this, 
stand  round  Sierra  Leone,  which  is  itself  a 
large  town,  and  full  also  of  black  people. 

Although  Africa  is  a beautiful  country, 
and  a very  pleasant  place  for  the  natives,  it 
is  extremely  unhealthy  for  Europeans,  so 
much  so,  that  Sierra  Leone  has  been  called 
the  “White  Man's  Grave,”  because  nearly 
all  the  white  men  who  go  there,  die;  the 
mists,  which  arise  from  the  swamps,  occa- 
sion fevers,  especially  the  black  fever,  a very 
dreadful  disease ; tliere  are,  how'ever,  always 
missionaries  to  be  found  willimr  to  so  there. 
An  Amei’ioan  missionary,  Mr.  Cox,  before 
he  sailed  for  Liberia,  (an  American  colony 
south  of  Sierra  Leone,  composed  of  free 
blacks  from  the  United  States,)  said  to  a 
friend  of  his:  “If  I die  in  Africa,  you  must 
come  after  me,  and  wadte  my  ejntaph.”  “ I 
will,”  said  his  friend,  “but  what  shall  I 
w'ritel”  he  answered,  “ Let  a thousand  mis- 
sionaries die,  before  Africa  be  given  up.” 
Love  to  Christ,  a desire  to  spread  the  know- 
ledge of  His  gospel,  and  faith  in  Ilis  prom- 
ises, supported  them  through  their  heavy 
trials ; and  though  a very  great  number  of 
missionaries  have  died,  and  among  them  the 


10 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


excellent  man  just  named,  thousands  of  ne- 
groes have  reason  to  bless  God,  that  there 
were  found  teachers  thus  willing  to  give  up 
their  lives  ; Christian  churches,  Christian  vil- 
lages, and  Christian  families,  are  scattered 
about  the  mountains,  and  the  negro  inhabi- 
tants of  many  a sweet  place,  besides  Glou- 
cester Town,  have  reason  to  bless  the  love 
and  self-devotion  of  English  and  American 
missionaries.  In  addition  to  the  unhealthi- 
ness of  the  climate,  there  were  other  reasons 
why  so  many  of  the  missionaries  died ; they 
lived  about  with  the  negroes,  in  their  vil- 
lages, being  deprived  of  the  comforts  and  luxu- 
ries, which  the  other  European  inhabitants 
of  the  colony  enjoy.  Very  often  they  had 
no  house,  until  they  built  one  for  themselves, 
and  then  perhaps  it  was  not  fit  to  live  in. 

Mr.  During  was  the  first  who  settled  at 
Gloucester  Town : can  my  little  readers, 
imagine  an  European  missionary,  with  a num- 
ber of  negroes  in  a forest,  among  the  moun- 
tains, under  the  burning  sky  of  Africa  ! They 
had  not  even  a hut  to  shelter  them,  until 
they  built  it.  As  the  negroes  were  industri- 
ous, and  worked  hard,  they  soon  cleared  suf- 
ficient space  for  their  own  huts,  and  they 
next  proceeded,  under  Mr.  During’s  direc- 
tion, to  erect  a house  for  a school,  and  another 
for  him  to  live  in.  I suppose  they  were  built 
of  mud,  and  thatched  with  leaves  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  natives.  When 
'•these  were  completed,  Mr.  During  seems  to 
have  been  much  satisfied.  The  new  village 


THE  NEGRO  VILLAGE. 


n 


was  named  Gloucester  Town,  and,  for  a 
while,  all  went  on  pleasantly.  At  a certain 
season  of  the  year,  Africa  is  subject  to  heavy 
rains;  when  the  sk}"  seems  to  pour  forth  tor- 
rents of  water,  which  comes  with  force  to  the 
ground,  or  is  driven  violently,  by  the  wdiirl- 
wind,  against  everything  which  opposes  it. 
Now,  Mr.  During  had  not  calculated  upon 
this,  and  his  poor  house  could  not  withstand 
the  fury  of  the  storms;  down  came  the  rain 
in  showers,  through  the  roof — there  was  no 
escaping  it — with  great  difficulty  they  con- 
trived to  keep  their  bed  dry,  by  building 
another  roof  over  it;  but  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  able  to  do  the  same  for  the  rest 
of  the  house.  So  the  rain  continued  to  pour 
in,  and  they,  to  eat  their  meals,  sit,  and  walk 
about  under  an  umbrella!  This  was  very 
uncomfortable,  as  you  may  suppose,  but  it 
was  worse  than  that,  for  it  was  extremely 
dantjerous  for  their  health.  Mr.  During  and 
his  wife,  lived,  however,  through  the  rainy 
season;  and  it  pleased  God  to  bless,  for  a 
long  time,  his  labours  among  the  heathen. 
Many  an  interesting  account  he  gives  of  his 
little  village,  his  church,  his  school,  and  his 
black  friends.  Rice  grounds,  corn,  and  cas- 
sada  fields,  began  to  display  themselves  to 
the  sun,  where  formerly  the  rank  and  use- 
less brushwood  alone  had  grown.  The  thick 
trees,  which  had  choked  the  circulation  of 
the  air,  were  cut  down,  and  the  delicious 
sea-breeze,  from  the  Atlantic,  refreshed  their 
dwellings. 


12 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


Early  in  the  morning,  the  inhabitants  might 
be  seen  going  to  Sierra  i.eone,  to  sell  their 
wood  and  other  articles,  and  then  returning 
to  breakfast,  and  to  finish  the  labours  oft  he  day 
in  their  corn  and  cassada  fields.  ‘■IIow,” 
said  the  captain  of  a ship,  which  visited  Afri- 
ca, to  an  English  gentleman  there,  “how  has 
this  ])lace  become  so  flourishing,  and  these 
people  so  civilized  “ It  is  through  the  in- 
structions of  the  missionaries,”  said  the  gen- 
tleman. The  captain  could  harldly  believe 
that  only  a few  years  before,  a vast  forest  had 
covered  that  place,  though  the  gentleman 
showed  him  some  of  the  old  trees,  which  had 
not  been  carried  away,  still  lying  along  the 
ground.  But  what  kind  of  people  were  these 
negroes,  when  they  were  first  placed  under 
the  care  of  the  missionary?  I have  given 
you  some  instances  of  their  folly  and  super- 
stition in  their  original  state.  Most  of  the 
negroes  at  Sierra  Leone,  were  rescued  from 
ships  which  were  carrying  them  away  to  be 
slaves.  You  cannot  imagine  what  a dreadful 
thing  a slave-ship  is,  or  what  a wretched, 
miserable  condition  the  poor  creatures  are  in, 
when  they  are  taken  out  of  it.  The  horrors 
which  sometimes  are  there  practised  upon 
the  poor  negroes,  are  too  terrible  to  relate. 
As  soon  as  they  arrive  at  Sierra  Leone,  they 
are  divided  into  several  companies  and  distri- 
buted among  the  dilferent  villages;  and  each 
missionary  is  sent  for  to  receive  his  share. 
Such  were  the  people  who  afterwards  com- 
posed the  population  of  Gloucester  Town. 


THE  NEGEO  VILLAGE. 


13 


About  four  years  after  its  first  settlement,  an- 
other slave-ship  was  brought  to  Sierra  Leone, 
and  Mr.  During  had  directions  sent  him,  to 
come  and  receive  a party  of  negroes  out  of 
it.  He  went  accordingly;  some  little  delay 
pirevented  his  receiving  them  until  past  four 
o’clock.  Gloucester  Town  was  some  distance 
from  Sierra  Leone,  and  it  was  on  a very 
steep  hill,  so  that  when  Mr.  During  had  got 
all  these  poor  people  out  of  the  town,  he  be- 
gan to  think  it  w'ould  be  no  easy  matter,  to 
take  them  to  his  village.  Faint  and  ill,  and, 
in  some  cases  almost  reduced  to  skeletons, 
they  were  incapable  of  the  least  exertion ; 
what  could  he  dol  he  must  take  them  home. 
If  he  had  known  they  were  so  ill,  he  would 
have  brought  some  of  his  people  to  asisst 
them;  but  he  did  not,  and  in  this  dreary  soli- 
tude, there  was  none  to  help.  Slowly  and 
wearily,  therefore,  they  began  to  ascend  the 
hill.  Fortunately,  however,  the  negroes  at 
Gloucester  Town,  had  heard  of  the  miserable 
state  these  newly  arrived  people  were  in,  and 
before  they  had  got  far  from  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  they  were  met  by  numbers  of  people, 
who,  as  they  came  near,  took  up  on  their 
backs  those  who  were  unable  to  walk,  so 
that  before  Mr.  During  was  half-way  up  the 
hill,  he  saw  almost  the  whole  number,  thus 
carried  by  those  who  had  come  down  for  the 
purpose.  Mr.  During,  as  he  walked  along, 
reflected  with  joy  on  the  sympathy  thus 
shown:  he  remembered  that  in  former  cases 
of  the  same  kind,  they  had  displayed  very 
2 


14 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


little  pity  to  the  sufFerers,  unless  they  happened 
to  see  some  friends  of  their  own,  amongst 
them ; but  they  had  now  been  taught  the 
commandment  of  Christ,  that  we  should  be 
willing  to  assist  every  one,  whether  they  are 
our  friends  or  not,  and  it  rejoiced  the  heart 
of  the  missionary  to  see  them  thus  practising 
what  they  had  been  taught.  As  soon  as  they 
arrived  at  home,  Mr.  During  ordered  food  to 
be  prepared  for  the  new  comers,  but  provi- 
sions came  in  from  all  quarters,  and  the  inha- 
bitants gladly  received  them  into  their  houses. 

Among  the  rest,  a Christian  negro  woman 
had  taken  another  wmman  under  her  care : 
she  showed  such  a very  great  desire  to  have 
her,  that  Mrs.  During  asked  her,  “what  she 
wanted  to  do  with  the  woman.”  She  re- 
plied, “Ma’am,  it  is  now  almost  two  years 
since  I came  to  this  country:  my  country- 
woman then  took  me,  and  did  me  good,  and 
told  me  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  that 
same  thinn-  she  did  to  me  at  that  time,  I want 
to  do  to  this  woman  now.” 

For  a long  time,  the  new  comers  were  very 
ill;  but  they  were  nursed  and  attended  to,  by 
the  Christian  negroes,  with  the  greatest  ten- 
derness and  care;  nor  did  they  only  attend 
to  their  bodily  wants,  for  such  of  them  as 
were  well  enough  they  took  with  them  to 
church  to  be  instructed,  and  as  they  had  no 
clothes,  they  lent  them  some  of  theirs. 

But  you  must  not  suppose  that  the  negroes 
always  listened  to  Mr.  During's  instructions, 
or  that  he  did  not  meet  with  many  trials,  and 


THE  NEGRO  VILLAGE. 


15 


find  need  of  much  patience  in  teaching  them. 
One  negro,  he  particularly  mentions  as  having 
been  very  troublesome  to  him ; not  only  in 
leading  a wicked  life  himself,  but  seducing 
others  into  sin  by  his  evil  examjile.  One  day 
when  Mr.  During  was  talking  very  seriously 
to  him,  pointing  ou-t  to  him  his  wickedness, 
and  the  consequences  of  it  to  him  in  eternity, 
he  boldly  declared  that  of  all  INIr.  During  had 
said,  he  did  not  believe  one  word:  “ I know,’ 
continued  he,  “that  one  day  I must  die,  but 
then  I go  back  to  my  own  country.”  Upon 
which  Mr.  During  asked  him,  if  he  had  ever 
seen  any  one  returning  to  his  country,  who 
liad  died  in  another.  To  this,  of  course,  he 
was  obliged  to  anwer,  “No.”  This  negro 
afterwards  became  a Christian:  and  it  pleased 
God  in  general  to  give  much  success  to  Mr. 
During’s  teaching. 

I have  told  you  before,  how  prosperous 
and  flourishing  the  little  village  among  the 
mountains  became;  those  who  have  learned 
to  love  God,  endeavour  to  do  their  duty  to- 
wards men:  but  the  former  was  the  best  part 
of  Mr.  During’s  instructions.  In  the  church, 
in  the  school,  both  he  and  Mrs.  During  la- 
‘boured  earnestly  to  teach  the  people  about 
Christ,  and  they  were  repaid  with  the  grate- 
ful love  of  those,  who  felt  what  a rich  bless- 
ing had  been,  by  their  means,  bestowed  upon 
them.  Mr.  During  gives  a very  interesting 
account  of  the  affection  which  they  showed 
towards  him,  during  an  illness  which  he  had, 
when  they  crowded  round  his  house,  and 


16 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


could  scarcely  be  kept  out  of  his  room,  while 
tlie  few  who  were  admitted,  prayed  for  him, 
and  recalling  his  own  words  when  addressed 
to  them,  tried  to  comfort  him. 

Once  after  he  had  been  absent  from  them  for 
some  time,  they  received  both  himself  and 
Mrs.  During  with  transports  of  joy;  one  of 
them  coming  to  welcome  his  arrival,  said, 
“Alassa,  Gloucester  Town  all  cry  for  you 
very  much:  yes,  Massa,  we  want  you  there 
very  much;  we  hungry  to  see  you  there 
again !” 

And  where  is  this  beloved  minister  now  ? 
He  is  gone  to  his  rest  in  the  Lord.  And  is 
his  grave  by  the  side  of  his  own  little  church 
among  the  mountains,  where  the  grateful 
negro  may  point  it  out  to  his  children,  as  the 
grave  of  the  beloved  missionary  who  taught 
him  about  Christ,  and  who  is  now  “absent 
from  the  body,  present  with  the  Lord !”  No 
he  lies  in  another  tomb;  the  ship  in  which  he 
was  going  to  visit  England  for  a short  time, 
sailed  from  Africa,  and  was  seen  no  more : 
nor  was  it  ever  again  heard  of,  and  the  poor 
negroes  were  “hungry”  in  vain  for  the  re- 
turn of  their  minister. 

It  is  most  probable,  that  the  vessel  was 
wrecked  in  a storm,  and  that  all  on  board 
perished.  No  doubt,  through  the  horrors  of 
the  tempest ^the  heart  of  the  missionary  was 
hxed  upon  Jesus : and  perhaps  he  thought  of 
the  time,  when  amidst  the  roaring  of  the 
waves,  lie  said  to  his  disciples,  “It  is  I,  be 
not  afraid.”  To  those  who  love  the  Lord, 


THE  NEGRO  VILLAGE. 


17 


“ to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  is  far  better." 
The  time  will  come  when  the  “sea  shall  give 
up  the  dead  which  are  in  it.”  Then  may  the 
missionary  meet  once  more  those  faithful 
converts,  for  whom  he  laboured,  and  for 
whom  he  prayed ; then  shall  he  understand 
more  perfectly  than  he  can  understand  on 
earth,  “that  he  which  convert eth  a sinner, 
from  the  error  of  his  way,  shall  save  a sou! 
from  death,  and  shall  hide  a multitude  of 
sins.” 


/ 


EGEDE. 


It  is  written  in  tlie  Bible,  “ We  walk  by 
faith,  not  by  sight and  this  text  may  be 
well  explained  by  an  account  of  the  instruc- 
tive and  interesting  labours  of  Egede,  the 
Danish  missionary  in  Greenland. 

In  the  early  days  of  English  history,  when 
Edward  HI.  was  king,  there  lived  on  the 
shores  of  Greenland,  a colony  of  Danes ; 
what  induced  them  to  leave  Denmark,  their 
own  country,  and  go  to  that  cold  and  deso- 
late region,  is  not  known  at  this  distance  of 
time;  tliey  built  houses,  and  churches,  and 
even  had  a bishop.  But  Greenland  is  a very 
cold  country,  the  ground  is  covered  with  ice 
and  snow,  so  that  the  fruits,  vegetables,  and 
grain,  upon  w'hich  w'c  live,  will  not  grow 
there,  and  on  that  account  ships  used  to  come 
every  year  from  Denmark,  although  it  was 
such  a great  way  otf,  to  bring  them  food. 
This  went  on  for  some  time,  until  one  dread- 
ful year,  a pestilence,  which  had  been  grad- 
ually spreading  all  over  Europe,  reached 
Denmark;  it  wms  a fearful  plague  called  the 
18 


EGEDE. 


19 


Black  Death,  and  such  a number  of  Danish 
sailors  died  of  it,  that  there  was  not  one  left, 
who  knew  how  to  sail  to  West  Greenland. 
What  became  of  the  people  there,  whether 
they  died  of  hunger  or  not,  no  one  ever  dis- 
covered. Many  hundred  years  afterwards, 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  some  Eng- 
lish sailors  were  sent  under  the  command  of 
a great  navigator,  to  endeavour  to  reach  the 
place,  but  when  they  arrived,  they  were  una- 
ble even  to  get  near  the  land;  immense 
plains  of  ice,  with  vast  chasms,  or  openings 
in  it,  stretched  all  along  the  coast,  and  pre- 
vented the  ships  from  approacliing ; from 
their  decks,  the  sailors  saw,  or  fancied  they 
saw,  ruins  of  the  buildings  which  had  once 
belonged  to  the  poor  Danes.  Hundreds  of 
years  again  passed  aw’ay,  and  Greenland, 
and  the  Christians  who  had  lived  there,  were 
once  more  forgotten;  until  in  tlie  year  1732, 
a minister  of  the  name  of  Egede,  at  Yogen, 
in  Norway,  read  the  story  which  I liave  just 
been  relating  to  you  of  the  colony  and  its  in- 
habitants ; he  felt  sympathy  and  pity  for  their 
fate,  and  ■ longed  to  know  more  concerning 
them.  In  those  days,  you  must  remember, 
the  art  of  navigation  was  much  better  under- 
stood, than  at  the  time  of  the  Black  Death, 
and  there  wmre  plenty  of  sailoi's,  who  not 
only  knew  the  way  to  Greenland,  but  had 
often  been  there  to  catch  whales.  But  though 
ships  went  there  every  year  for  that  purpose, 
no  Christians  lived  there  now,  nor  did  any 
trace  of  them  remain,  except  the  ruins  of 


20 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


their  churches,  scattered  about  the  desolate, 
and  now  heathen  country.  The  account 
that  he  heard  of  the  misery  and  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  inhabitants  affected  Egede  greatly, 
for  thoLiglit  he  to  himself,  “ Perhaps  these 
wretched  people  are  the  descendants  of  my 
Christian  countrymen !”  Tliose  whom  we 
truly  pity,  wc  shall  wish  to  assist ; and  ac- 
cordingly Egede,  soon  felt  an  anxious  desire 
to  benefit  and  instruct  the  Greenlanders. 
But  what  could  he  do '!  there  were  no  mis- 
sionaries in  those  days,  and  no  missionary 
societies ; he  was  a poor  minister,  with  a 
wife  and  family  to  take  care  of,  and  had  no 
money  either  to  pay  for  his  passage  to  Green- 
land, or  to  find  himself  and  his  children  food 
when  he  got  there.  He  soon,  however, 
thought  of  an  expedient ; he  drew  up  a peti- 
tion, that  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  in- 
struct the  Greenlanders,  and  gave  as  a reason 
the  commandment  of  Christ,  that  the  gos- 
pel should  be  jireached  among  the  heathen  ; 
this  petition  he  sent  to  some  Norwegian 
bishops,  who  approved  very  much  of  the 
plan,  and  promiseil  to  ask  the  consent  of  the 
king : the  country,  however,  was  then  at 
war,  and  they  desired  him  to  wait  for  a 
favourable  opportunity;  this  favourable  op- 
portunity never  came,  and  year  after  year, 
Egede  waited  in  vain ; when  his  hopes  were 
exhausted,  he  resigned  his  charge  at  Vogen, 
and  taking  leave  with  much  regret  of  his  be- 
loved people  there,  he  set  out  for  Copen- 
hagen, to  see  the  king  himself.  When  he 


EGEDE. 


21 


arrived  there,  people  laughed  at  him,  and 
treated  his  project  of  preaching  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen  as  madness,  and  asked  him  if 
he  wanted  to  be  made  a bishop  in  Greenland. 
Egede  bore  it  all  patiently,  and  persevering 
in  his  purpose,  obtained  an  audience  with 
the  king.  His  majesty  received  him  very 
kindly,  and  promised  him  his  support,  and, 
in  great  joy  at  his  unexpected  success,  he  re- 
turned home,  to  prepare  for  his  voyage.  The 
promise,  however,  was  not  fulfilled ; no  money, 
no  assistance  came,  and  another  long  year 
passed  away  in  vain.  At  length  in  the  spring, 
the  king  sent  him  £40,  and  promised  to  allow 
him  £00  a year  for  his  support  in  Greenland. 
Thus,  after  ten  years  of  incessant  anxiety 
and  fatigue,  for  Egede  tried  many  more  ex- 
pedients than  I have  had  time  to  detail  to 
you,  he  saw  himself  possessed  of  the  object 
he  had  so  long,  and  so  ardently  desired.  And 
what  was  his  object  ? the  means  of  leaving  his 
native  country  and  all  the  comforts  of  civi- 
lized life,  to  live  among  savages,  exposed  to 
all  the  hardships  and  miseries  of  an  intensely 
cold  climate,  in  the  remote  regions  of  the 
frozen  North. 

But  the  heart  of  Egede  was  filled  with 
an  intense  desire  for  their  salvation,  and  he 
counted  his  own  interests  and  happiness  as 
nothing.  After  a stormy  passage  over  tem- 
pestuous seas,  covered  often  with  a thick 
fog,  they  reached  in  safety  the  place  which 
was  to  be  their  future  home.  Before  telling 


22 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


you  what  happened  to  them  there,  I will  give 
you  some  description  of  the  countiy. 

If  you  look  for  it  in  the  map,  you  will  find 
it  very  near  the  North  Pole ; it  is  surrounded 
with  immense  fields  of  ice,  and  covered  near- 
ly all  the  year  with  deep  snow.  In  summer 
there  is  no  night,  for  the  sun  never  sets  ; in 
the  depths  of  winter  there  is  no  day,  for  it 
never  rises ; the  frost  may  be  called  per- 
petual, and  the  snow  falls  at  intervals  all  the 
year, except  during  June  and  July;  the  coun- 
try is  surrounded  on  every  side  by  mountains 
of  ice,  which  sometimes  break,  and  falling 
with  a thundering  noise  into  the  sea,  over- 
whelm all  wdio  may  happen  to  be  within  their 
reac  h.  No  trees,  no  plants,  no  flowers,  grow 
there,  but  the  inhabitants  do  not  depend  upon 
vessels  bringing  them  food  from  Europe,  as 
the  colonists  did  in  the  early  time ; they  live 
almost  entirely  upon  the  fish  which  they 
catch  in  the  ocean : still,  this  supply  is  so  un- 
certain, that  they  often  experience  the  horrors 
of  famine. 

Such  w’as  the  place  to  which  the  good 
Egede  so  earnestly'  desired  to  be  sent,  and 
which  he  now  reached  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  long  dark  wdnter.  Some  other 
Europeans  had  accompanied  him,  not  as 
missionaries,  but  w’ith  the  intention  of  trad- 
ing w’ith  the  natives.  The  first  thing  they 
did  was  to  build  a house,  and  provide  against 
the  approach  of  the  cold  weather;  this  prov- 
ed more  severe  than  they'  expected : “ the 


EGEDE. 


23 


ice,  and  hoai’  frost,”  said  one  of  the  mission- 
aries, who  lived  there  some  time  afterwards, 
“ reaches  down  the  chimney  to  the  mouth  of 
the  stove,  without  being  thawed  by  the  fire 
in  the  day  time.  Over  the  chimney  is  an 
arch  of  frost,  with  little  holes,  through  which 
the  smoke  discharges  itself.  The  door  and 
walls  are  as  if  they  were  plastered  over  with 
frost,  and,  what  is  scarcely  credible,  our  beds 
are  often  frozen  to  the  bedstead.  At  night, 
our  breath  freezes  upon  the  pillows.”  Egede, 
however,  was  very  happy  in  this  new  dwell- 
ing, and  longed  to  commence  that  great  work 
for  which  he  had  come, — the  instruction  of 
the  Greenlanders.  There  are  a great  many 
sorrows  in  this  world,  and  every  one  has  a 
portion  of  them;  but,  notwithstanding  this, 
our  happiness  depends  more  upon  ourselves, 
our  own  conduct  and  disposition,  than  upon 
the  circumstances  in  which  we  are  placed. 
Yes,  it  is  very  true,  the  greater  part  of  your 
unhappiness  is  made  by  yourself.  Things 
become  pleasant  or  disagreeable  to  us,  ac- 
cording to  the  manner  in  which  we  receive 
them,  and  the  little  events  which  happen  to 
us  during  the  day,  are  often  agreeable  or 
otherwise,  according  to  the  temper  which 
they  find  us  in.  Suppose  you  could  be  olfer- 
ed  your  choice  for  to-morrow — whether  you 
would  go  out  on  a party  of  pleasure,  or  be 
in  a perfectly  good  humour  all  day.  Very 
likely  you  would  choose  the  former,  but  you 
would  be  wrong,  for  the  latter  would  make 
you  much  the  more  happy.  And  what  is  it 


24 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


which  can  make  us  cheerful,  good-humoured, 
contented  at  all  times?  Nothing,  but  being 
sincere  Christians — nothing  but  the  grace  of 
God ; this  will  make  us  happy  at  all  times, 
and  in  all  places.  It  has  made  people 
liappy  in  prisons,  in  pain,  in  death.  “My 
iieart,”  says  the  Psalmist,  “shall  sing  in  thy 
ways,’’  which  means  the  joyfulness  of  heart 
which  is  the  portion  of  God’s  obedient  chil- 
dren. It  was  this  which  made  Egede  hap- 
p'y,  upon  the  gloomy  shores  of  Greenland: 
it  is  this  which  may  make  you  happy,  from 
hour  to  hour,  from  day  to  day,  amidst  the 
■small  events,  and  little  trials  of  your  life. 
Then  there  would  be  no  more  tears  shed 
over  duties  unperformed,  or  the  incurred  dis- 
pleasure of  your  friends ; no  more  fretting 
over  unavoidable  disappointments,  no  more 
quarreling  for  your  own  way,  no  more 
frowns  upon  slight  offences ; in  a word,  none 
of  those  various  troubles,  which,  both  when 
we  are  children,  and  when  we  are  grown  up, 
we  make,  in  order  to  torment  ourselves. 
Whenever  you  feel  unhappy,  ask  yourself 
what  is  the  cause,  and  who  is  to  blame! 

Egede’s  first  object  was,  to  learn  the  lan- 
guage: but  this  was  not  easily  done;  he 
had  to  write  his  own  grammar,  and  make 
liis  own  dictionary;  and  no  way  of  setting 
about  it,  but  pointing  to  things,  and  asking 
tlie  natives  the  names  of  them,  and  then 
endeavouring  to  arrange  the  words  he  had 
thus  obtained.  In  this  manner  you  must 
necessarily  imagine  he  passed  a long  time 


EGEDE. 


25 


before  he  was  able  to  obtain  a knowledge 
of  the  language  of  the  Greenlanders;  and 
beine:  eaa;er  to  communicate  religious  in- 
struction  to  them,  he  showed  them  pictures 
of  some  of  the  events  in  the  Bible,  such  as 
our  Saviour  healing  the  sick,  and  raising  the 
dead,  and  also  of  the  general  resurrection. 
These,  however,  had  an  unfortunate  effect; 
foi’,  as  he  could  only  explain  the  sul)jects  to 
them  very  imperfectly,  they  imagined  that 
he  himself  possessed  the  same  wonderful 
power;  they,  therefore,  brought  their  sick  to 
him,  to  be  cured.  Though  lie  endeavoured 
to  explain  to  them,  that  God  alone  could  im- 
part health,  they  peristed  in  attributing  to 
him  mii'aculous  powers,  and  even  entreated 
him,  on  one  accasion,  to  bring  the  dead  to 
life.  He  could  not,  therefore,  hope  to  in- 
struct them  in  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
until  he  was  able  to  converse  with  them, 
without  any  difficulty. 

A new  trial  now  awaited  him;  they  had 
not  brought  out  any  large  store  of  provi- 
sions, as,  knowing  that  the  inhabitants  sub- 
sisted upon  fish,  they  expected  to  have  been 
able  to  do  the  same.  But  the  fishing  that 
year  had  failed,  and  the  people  who  accom- 
panied him  began  to  murmur  at  the  scarcity 
of  food,  and  to  upbraid  him  with  having 
brought  them  to  that  dismal  place.  Was  this 
then,  to  be  the  end  of  all  his  hopes'?  Was 
the  very  same  vessel  which  brought  them 
out,  to  carry  them  all  back  again  to  their 
own  country,  with  no  other  fruit  of  his  anx- 
3 


2G 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


ieties,  than  a long  and  miserable  voyage  ? 
lie  begged,  he  prayed  them  to  remain — to 
stay  only  a little  longer,  and  see  if  it  was  the 
will  of  God  to  send  them  food.  They  listen- 
ed to  his  entreaties,  and  agreed  to  stay  the 
“little  longer:”  and,  before  it  was  expired, 
the  welcome  sail  was  seen  at  a distance  on 
the  sea,  and  a vessel  from  Norway  arrived, 
bringing  them  the  food  and  necessaries  they 
required. 

Years  passed  away,  and  Egede  continued 
indefatigable  at  his  labours.  To  gain  the 
necessary  knowledge  of  their  tongue,  he 
went  to  live,  for  a time,  in  the  hut  of  a 
Greenlander,  in  the  midst  of  the  fdth  with 
which  it  abounded,  and  the  vermin  with 
which  it  swarmed.  The  savages,  who  live 
in  the  countries  near  the  North  Pole,  are 
generally  dirty,  and  disgusting  in  their  ha- 
bits; and  the  Greenlanders  are,  or  rather  at 
that  time  were,  particularly  so.  He  after- 
wards received  a family  into  his  own  house, 
for  the  same  purpose.  As  soon  as  he  had 
thus  learnt  to  speak  the  language,  he  began 
to  attempt  to  teach  some  of  the  young 
Greenlanders  to  read.  They,  however,  had 
no  desire  to  learn:  eating  was  the  thing 
which  they  seemed  best  to  have  understood, 
and  had  the  strongest  passion  for.  Whole 
nights,  sometimes,  were  spent  by  them  in 
gluttony;  and  if  I were  to  tell  you  the  deli- 
cacies upon  which  they  feasted,  I think  you 
would  be  rather  shocked.  Books,  paper, 
pens,  are  not,  as  little  children  say,  “good  to 


EGEDE. 


27 


eat,”  and  they  turned  a deaf  ear  to  every- 
thing the  missionary  could  say  to  them:  in- 
deed, they  told  him,  he  was  an  idle,  useless 
man,  who  passed  his  time  in  looking  at 
books,  and  scratching  with  a feather,  while 
the  brave  Greenlanders  were  hunting  seals, 
and  catchinsr  fish.  In  vain  he  endeavoured 

o 

to  talk  to  them  concerning  their  souls.  They 
knew  of  no  other  life  than  the  present,  and 
cared  for  no  other.  They  were  ignorant 
savages;  but,  are  you  sure  you  are  not  pur- 
suing the  same  end,  though,  perhaps,  in  a 
difierent  manner?  All  they  thought  about 
W'as  feasting  and  gluttony.  Your  thoughts 
are,  perhaps,  equally  intent  upon  this  world; 
and  if  so,  you  are  as  unwise  as  the  Green- 
landers. If  a house  was  on  fu'e,  a lady,  who 
could  not  leave  an  interesting  book  she  was 
reading  in  the  drawing-room,  would  be  as 
much  in  danger  of  being  burnt  to  death,  as 
the  servant  who  would  not  get  up  from  his 
supper  in  the  kitchen.  It  scarcely  matters  to 
us,  how  we  lose  our  lives,  or  our  souls,  if  we 
do  indeed  lose  them.  The  Greenlanders 
showed  an  equal  aversion  to  hearing  any 
thing  about  religion;  and,  not  possessing  the 
dissimulation  of  polite  society,  they  did  not 
leave  Egede  in  doubt  of  their  feelings  upon 
this  subject  either.  They  plainly  told  him 
they  cared  nothing  at  all  about  it.  Perhaps 
you  will  say,  why  did  he  not  go  back  to  his 
own  country?  No;  he  would  not  go  home 
until  he  considered  his  duty  there  was  done. 
He  thought  it  was  the  will  of  God,  that  he 


28 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


should  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Greenlanders, 
and,  therefore,  he  persevered.  “We  walk 
by  faith,  not  by  sight our  conduct  should 
be  governed,  not  by  what  wo  see  and  expe- 
rience in  this  world,  but  what  God  has  de- 
clared to  us  in  his  word.  We  see  the  world 
around  us,  wholly  intent  upon  providing  for 
their  happiness  //ere.  Our  Saviour  has  com- 
manded us  to  take  up  our  cross  and  follow 
him,  and  then  we  shall  be  happy  here,  and 
perfectly  blest  with  him  hereafter,  We  see 
daily  around  us  all  that  is  honoured,  prized, 
and  esteemed,  in  the  sight  of  men.  The  Bible 
tells  us  it  is  vanity,  and  the  only  things 
worth  our  attention  are  those  which  are 
esteemed  in  the  sight  of  God.  Egede  walked 
by  faith,  not  by  sight;  he  saw  that  the  Green- 
landers j)aid  not  the  slightest  attention  to  his 
instructions,  and  that  year  after  year,  it 
seemed  as  though  he  laboured  in  vain;  but  he 
knew  that  Christ  had  commanded  that  the 
gospel  should  be  preached  among  the  heathen, 
and  therefore  he  persevered.  If  not  one  single 
idolater  was  converted  to  Christianity,  it 
would  still  be  the  duty  of  Christians  to  “go 
into  all  the  world,”  teaching  all  nations.  It 
would  be  their  duty,  because  it  is  their 
Saviour’s  commandment. 

After  Egede  had  lived  about  twelve  years 
in  Greenland,  some  Moravian  missionaries, 
not  deteri’ed  by  his  w'ant  of  success,  came 
out  to  help  him.  Their  coming  was  a great 
blessing  and  encouragement  to  him;  but,  like 
himself,  their  efforts,  their  entreaties,  their 


EGEDE.. 


29 


exhortations,  were  totally  lost  upon  the 
Greenlanders.  They  built  themselves  huts 
at  a part  of  Greenland,  which  they  fixed 
upon,  and  Egede  generously  lent  all  the 
assistance  he  possibly  could  to  those,  who 
followizig  his  example,  had  thus  come  to 
share  his  fruitless  toils,  and  many  misfor- 
tunes. His  knowledge  was  of  m’eat  use  to 

O ^ O 

them,  especially  in  teaching  them  the  lan- 
guage, which  he  had  acquired  with  so  much 
labour  and  difficulty.  The  grammar,  books, 
and  observations  he  had  written,  were  all  at 
their  service.  They  derived  great  benefit 
from  his  kindness,  and  the  experience  he  had 
acquired  from  his  long  residence  in  that  bar- 
barous country*. 

Egede,  who  seems  to  have  sought  every 
opportunity  by  which  he  could  possibly 
hope  to  benefit  the  Greenlanders,  had  per- 
suaded six  of  them  to  go  to  Denmark,  hop- 
ing, perhaps,  tliat  the  sight  of  the  superior 
comforts  and  advantages  enjoyed  by  civi- 
lized nations,  might  induce  them  to  listen  to 
his  instructions,  at  least  for  tiieir  temporal 
welfare,  if  not  for  their  soul’s  salvation. 
Four,  out  of  the  six  who  went,  died,  and  the 
remaining  two  were  sent  back  again,  soon 
after  the  arrival  of  the  IMoravian  mission- 
aries. One  of  them,  a girl,  died  at  sea,  the 
boy  arrived,  ajiparently  in  good  health;  but 
soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was  seized  with  a 
severe  illness  of  which  he  died ; the  next 
person  who  was  taken  ill,  was  one  named 
Christian  Frederick,  to  the  great  grief  of 
3 * 


30 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


Egede;  the  disorder  proved  fatal  to  him 
also,  and  his  loss  was  deeply  regretted,  not 
only  because  he  was  one  of  the  very  few 
Greenland  children,  whom  the  missionary 
had  been  able  to  obtain,  to  instruct  in  the 
Christian  religion,  but  also  as  Christian  had 
now  grown  up  to  be  a youth,  and  proved 
both  grateful  and  useful  to  his  benefactors. 
None,  however,  knew  what  the  disease  was, 
until  another  was  taken  ill,  and  then  it  was 
found  to  be  a most  virulent  species  of  the 
small  pox.  The  small  pox,  when  it  is  intro- 
duced among  savage  nations,  almost  resem- 
bles the  plague.  In  Africa,  it  is  so  dreadful, 
that  in  the  interior,  if  it  is  known  that  there 
is  any  person  ill  of  that  complaint  in  a hut, 
the  cruel  people  will  surround  it,  and  burn 
it  to  the  ground,  with  every  person  who  is 
inside  it.  In  North  America,  large  tracts  of 
land  have  been  entirely  depopulated  by  it. 
In  former  times,  it  was  very  dreadful  in 
England ; so  much  so,  that  in  the  time  of 
Queen  IMary  II.  it  was  forbidden  to  mention 
it  in  society,  on  account  of  terrifying  people. 
Of  late  years  a remedy  has  been  discovered, 
for  which  we  ought  to  be  truly  grateful  to 
God.  Vaccination  was  not  known  at  the 
time  I am  speaking  of,  even  to  the  Euro- 
peans, and  the  Greenlanders  would  not  sub- 
mit to  the  remedies  which  were  known  to 
them.  Unable  to  endure  the  pain,  heat,  and 
thirst  of  the  disease,  in  their  madness  they 
plunged  into  the  sea,  or  stabbed  themselves, 
to  put  an  end  to  their  torment ; they  would 


EGEDE. 


31 


take  no  medicine,  nor  even  submit  to  re- 
main in  their  lints,  but  wandered  about 
among  their  countrymen,  carrying  every 
where  contagion  and  death.  Egede  sent  to 
the  Greenlanders  at  a distance,  begging  them 
to  remain  in  their  own  places,  and  receive 
no  strangers,  warning  them  of  the  conse- 
quences of  neglecting  his  advice.  But  it 
was  received  with  the  same  perverseness  as 
his  religious  instructions ; the  Greenlanders 
chose  to  follow  their  own  course,  and  conse- 
quently the  plague  spread  everywhere,  with 
fearful  rapidity.  When  he  visited  the  sick, 
and  exhorted  them  to  patience  and  resigna- 
tion, he  was  answered  with  exclamations  of 
rage,  impatience,  and  despair.  One  man, 
whose  son  died  of  the  disease,  mui’dered  a 
woman  in  the  house,  because  he  fancied  she 
had  bewitched  him.  Still  Egede  continued 
to  attend  them  with  kindness  and  forbear- 
ance ; their  ingratitude  might  distress  him, 
but  it  did  not  prevent  him  from  doing  every 
thing  for  them  that  he  could,  in  which  he 
was  assisted  by  the  other  missionaries.  Once, 
they  found  a poor  girl  alone  upon  an  island, 
ill  of  the  small  pox,  and  three  little  children, 
her  brothers:  they  were  the  only  living  crea- 
tures left  there:  her  father  had  buried  all  the 
other  inhabitants,  and  having  made  himself 
a grave,  he  lay  down  in  it  with  his  young- 
est child ; some  fish  was  left,  which  the  chil- 
dren lived  upon,  until  they  were  found, 
when  Egede  took  them  home  to  the  place 
where  he  lived  and  took  care  of  them.  The 


32 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


disorder  did  not  cease  until  it  had  almost 
depopulated  the  country  for  many  leagues, 
leaving  little  else  than  empty  houses  and  un- 
buried bodies. 

Fifteen  years  had  now  been  spent  by 
Egede  in  Greenland ; his  health  was  im- 
paired by  anxiety  and  fatigue;  old  age  was 
fast  approaching;  yet  no  Christian  church 
there  rewarded  his  labours — no  Christian 
converts  blessed  the  hour  of  his  coming  to 
their  shores.  Yet  it  was  not  for  this,  that 
the  venerable  Egede  resolved  upon  returning 
to  his  native  land;  he  considered  that  his  task 
was  accomplished,  and  that  he  was  now  per- 
mitted to  spend  the  few  remaining  days  of 
his  life  in  jieace:  especially  as  there  still  re- 
mained in  Greenland  a band  of  faithful  mis- 
sionaries, who  had  bound  themselves  by  a 
solemn  resolution,  that  come  life,  come  death, 
they  would  never  quit  the  place,  until  they 
could  appeal  to  the  Lord,  with  the  testimony 
of  their  own  conscience,  that  they  had,  with 
the  help  of  God,  done  all  that  man  could  do. 
Egede  preached  his  farewell  sermon  from  the 
text,  -‘I  said  I have  laboured  in  vain;  I have 
spent  my  strength  for  nought,  and  in  vain : 
yet  surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord, 
and  my  work  with  my  God.”  After  which 
he  took  an  affecting  farewmll  of  the  other 
missionaries,  and  left  them  with  a prayer  that 
God  would  yet  bless  the  Greenland  mission. 
He  returned  to  his  own  country,  and  passed 
his  time  until  his  death  in  instructing  students 
in  the  language  of  the  Greenlanders. 

O O 


EGEDE. 


33 


The  missionaries  he  left  behind  him,  un- 
dismayed by  difficulties,  dangers,  and  suffer- 
ings, imitated  the  glorious  example  of  his 
perseverance,  patience,  and  zeal;  and  the 
Lord  crowned  their  labours  with  success.  In 
the  year  1822,  the  anniversary  of  Egede's 
landing  in  Greenland  was  celebrated.  One 
hundred  years  had  then  elapsed  since,  after 
his  long  and  patient  waiting,  he  landed  upon 
the  shores  of  that  country.  But  who  was 
there  to  celebrate  it  ! Hundreds  upon  hun- 
dreds of  Christian  Greenlanders  to  join  their 
prayers  and  praises  wdth  the  missionaries, 
that  it  had  pleased  God  to  put  it  into  the 
heart  of  Egede  to  come  to  their  desolate 
shores.  J\ow  Christian  churches,  Christian 
settlements,  Christian  congregations,  are  scat- 
tered over  the  land;  and  a spirit  of  love,  of 
grace,  and  of  knowledge,  moves  the  hearts 
of  the  once  barbarous  and  ignorant  heathens. 
“How  happy,”  says  one  of  the  missionaries, 
“is  a life  spent  among  a flock  of  true  children 
of  God  and  lovers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
collected  from  among  wild  and  barbarous 
heathens  ! How  willingly  do  we  forego  many 
outward  advantages,  while  we  partake  of  the 
real  blessedness  of  the  house  of  God  in  such 
a family  of  Jesus,  who  have  been  brought  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  out  of  heathenish  darkness 
into  the  glorious  light  of  his  countenance!” 
My  little  friend,  follow'  the  example  of  the 
good  Egede.  How — do  you  ask  me  ! “ In 

walkmg  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight” — in  act- 
ing from  hour  to  hour,  and  day  to  day,  and 


34 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


year  to  year,  not  according  to  what  you  see 
and  feel  in  this  world,  but  according  to  that 
which  God  in  his  word  hath  commanded 
you  : and  be  assured,  that  like  Egede,  you 
shall  reap,  if  not  here,  hereafter,  a glorious 
recompense.  Perseverance  is  the  crowning 
grace  of  a Christian's  life:  he  does  not  look 
for  reward  here,  but  is  contented  to  follow 
Christ’s  commandments,  in  faith,  leaving  him 
to  order  all  things  according  to  his  will,  and 
submitting  patiently  to  it,  at  all  times,  and 
still  endeavouring  to  act  in  obedience  to  his 
precepts,  as  though  iverything  succeeded 
and  was  prosperous. 


THE  THREE  SISTERS. 


You  often  read  histories  of  ciiildren  who 
have  died.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  hear 
something  about  three  young,  happy,  livmg 
sisters. 

Do  you  remember  the  first  Sunday  in  Jan- 
uary? Perhaps  your  minister  preached  to 
young  people  on  that  day,  and  urged  you  to 
begin  this  year  by  giving  your  hearts  to  the 
I Saviour.  This  was  what  these  sisters  wished 
to  do.  They  had  long  sought  to  do  so  in 
secret,  and  now  they  wished  to  do  it  in  pub- 
lic ; and  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  this  year, 
i:  they  were  received  as  members  of  the  church, 

and  went  together  to  partake  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  the  Lord’s  Supper.  How  happy 
they  felt,  and  how  happy  their  dear  parents 
; felt,  no  one  can  tell.  If  only  one  had  come 
to  this  decision,  it  would  have  been  pleasant, 
but  for  all  three  to  have  done  so,  made  this 
a joyful  day  indeed.  They  have  since  said, 
that  they  useil  to  feel  so  much  before,  when 
they  were  obliged  to  leave  the  pew  and  go 
up  into  the  gallery  while  their  dear  father 


36 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


and  mol  her  remained  below.  It  made  them 
think,  “What,  if  there  should  be  a separa- 
tion at  last!  Our  dear  parents  in  Heaven, 
and  we  shut  out !”  Do  you  ever  have  such 
thoughts  as  these? 

Then  they  began  to  think  what  more  they 
could  do  to  please  their  Father  in  Heaven. 
They  cannot  do  much  for  they  are  young, 
and  a great  deal  of  their  time  is  taken  up 
with  their  lessons,  but  they  felt  very  anxious 
to  do  what  they  could.  So  they  formed  some 
little  plans  for  themselves,  and  I will  mention 
a few,  in  case  there  should  be  any  that  you 
would  like  to  adopt  for  yourself. 

First  you  must  hear  how  they  divide  their 
time.  They  rise  at  half  past  six.  At  eight 
they  meet,  and  read  some  of  Matthew  Hen- 
ry's commentary  together,  and  talk  about  it. 

In  the  cold  dark  weather,  they  meet  in  a 
snug  little  study  with  a cheerful  fire.  The 
room  in  which  they  meet  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  year,  has  a window  with  a deep 
seat,  on  which  they  rest  their  Bibles.  It 
looks  out  on  some  beautiful  bills,  covered 
with  low  green  wood.  On  the  fine  spring 
mornings,  the  sunlight  streams  through  that 
w'indow,  and  the  bleating  of  the  sheep,  and 
the  singing  of  the  birds  make  the  scene  very 
cheerful.  Alany  a happy  hour  have  these 
dear  girls  passed  there  together.  Sometimes  j 
they  wonder  how  long  they  shall  be  per-  i 
mitted  to  enjoy  so  much  sweet  pleasure  in 
each  others  society,  and  how  soon  death  or 
change  may  be  sent  to  divide  them ; but  this 


THE  THREE  SISTERS. 


37 


thought  draws  them  only  the  more  closely  to 
each  other  now,  and  makes  them  look  for- 
ward to  a happier  meeting  above.  The} 
have  often  knelt  together  at  the  footstool  ol' 
their  blessed  Redeemer  on  earth,  and  the\ 
hope  again  to  meet  and  bow  at  his  feet  in 
Heaven. 

After  family  prayer  and  breakfast,  they 
are  at  their  lessons  till  one.  The  time  is 
divided  into  hours  and  half  hours,  that  none 
may  be  lost.  At  one  they  walk  out,  and 
there  is  generally  some  poor  person  to  whom 
they  have  to  take  medicine,  food,  or  clothes. 
After  dinner  they  read  history  and  other 
books.  For  half  an  hour  before  tea  the\ 
sing.  They  are  thinking  they  should  like  to 
improve  the  singing  at  the  place  of  worship 
where  they  attend,  and  they  are  practising 
hymns  together  in  parts  for  that  purpose. 
They  always  have  a hymn  at  family  prayer, 
and  take  it  in  turns  to  lead  the  tune. 

After  tea,  the  whole  family  meet,  and  one 
reads  perhaps  some  missionary  work,  or 
some  volume  of  biography,  while  the  rest  are 
engaged  with  their  needles,  or  in  other  useful 
employment.  Every  Saturday  morning  the} 
have  a little  missionary  prayer-meeting. 
Every  Monday  morning,  the  missionary  box 
goes  round  in  the  parlour,  and  the  servants 
have  imitated  the  example,  and  set  up  one  of 
their  own  in  the  kitchen.  There  are  three 
young  servants  in  the  family,  and  each  sister 
has  taken  one  under  her  charge,  with  the 
resolution  to  pray  and  labour  for  the  cou- 
4 


38 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


version  of  that  one.  They  have  each  a class 
in  the  Sunday-school,  and  there  is  also  a day- 
school  which  they  visit.  Every  Friday  morn- 
ing, the  lessons  are  put  aside,  and  they  set 
olf  directly  after  breakfast  to  take  tracts  to 
ihe  cottages,  and  to  read  to  the  poor  and 
ignorant.  They  have  divided  the  village 
into  districts,  in  order  to  do  the  work  tho- 
roughly, for  they  feel  great  anxiety  to  be 
I he  means  of  leading  some  of  the  poor  igno- 
rant peo})le  around  them  to  the  knowledge 
and  love  of  Jesus. 

Do  you  think  that  this  is  a great  deal  for 
them  to  do?  1 hope  you  do  not,  and  I am 
sure  they  do  not  think  so.  They  hope  to  be 
able  to  do  much  more  in  a few  years’  time. 
It  is  only  a very  little  of  what  they  ought, 
and  what  they  wish  to  do.  They  often  think 
how  their  gracious  Saviour  gave  up  all  for 
I hem,  and  they  think  it  will  be  the  least  they 
can  do  to  give  their  whole  hearts  and  lives  to 
1 lim. 

There  is  one  pleasure  to  which  they  are 
looking  forward  with  much  delight,  and  that 
is  a Missionary  communion.  They  will  not 
this  year  have  to  go  up  into  the  gallery  to  be 
addressed  as  spectators,  but  hope  to  unite 
with  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  in  com- 
memorating his  dying  love,  and  in  devoting 
tiiemselves  afresh  to  his  service  for  the  time 
to  come. 

Dear  little  girls,  is  there  any  thing  here 
which  you  have  not  yet  done,  but  which  you 
could  do  ? I hope  you  will  try  to  make  a 


THE  THREE  SISTERS. 


39 


Heginning.  First  give  your  own  selves  to  the 
I>ord,  and  then  you  will  soon  find  out  sonic- 
thing  to  do  for  Him.  If  the  girls  can  do 
something,  the  boys  can  do  more.  Girls  can 
only  exert  themselves  in  private — for  a few 
]>eople  at  a time — but  boys  may  grow  up  tn 
lie  ministers  of  the  gospel,  or  even  to  be  mis- 
sionaries, and  to  preach  Christ  to  hundreds 
and  thousands.  If  all  the  dear  children  who 
read  this  book,  were  to  come  to  the  same 
resolution  as  the  three  sisters  of  whom  I have 
been  writing,  what  a happy  thing  it  would  be, 
and  how  much  good  might  be  done ! 

There  is  a hymn  which  these  sisters  often 
sing  together  to  the  tune  called  Suftblk,  and 
of  which  they  never  seem  to  get  tired,  begin- 
ning, 

“ Awake  my  soul,  stretch  every  nerve.” 

May  it  soon  be  the  language  of  all  our 
young  readers. 


STORY  OF  MRS.  JUDSON. 


Little  Jane’s  mamma  was  one  day  very 
Imsy  reading  the  newspaper.  Little  Jane  was 
sitting  on  a stool  at  her  feet ; she  had  her 
doll  in  her  lap,  a piece  of  net,  and  some 
pink  ribbon,  which  she  thought  w'ould  make 
the  young  lady  a pretty  new  cap,  if  her 
mamma  was  at  leisure ; but  then  her  mam- 
ma looked  as  if  she  was  so  very  busy!  Poor 
Jane  sighed  two  or  three  times,  and  she 
looked  at  dolly,  and  she  looked  at  the  pink 
ribbon  ; at  last  she  could  not  control  her  im-  i 
I'atience  any  longer,  so  she  ventured  to  | 
interrupt  her  mamma  by  saying,  “ Mamma, 
you  are  not  generally  so  fond  of  reading  the 
newspaper !”  Mamma  smiled,  as  she  put 
down  the  news]iaper.  and  looked  at  her  little 
'jfirl,  and  then  she  said,  “ I was  reading,  Jane, 
about  a })lace,  and  about  some  people  whom 
1 feel  very  much  interested  in,  and  I think 
I could  tell  you  something  about  them, 
which  would  make  you  feel  interested  in 
them  too,  but,  perhaps,  you  would  rather 
that  I made  your  dollv’s  cap.”  Jane  consi- 
40 


STORY  OF  MRS.  JUDSON. 


41 


dered  for  a moment,  and  then  she  said, 
Mamma,  if  you  please,  I would  rather  you 
told  me  the  story.”  “A  great  many  years 
ago,  there  lived  in  Massachusetts  a young 
lady  who  was  very  pious  and  sincere  in  her 
love  to  God,  and  wished  to  serve  him.  In 
these  days,  you  know,  it  is  not  at  all  un- 
I common  for  women  to  leave  their  homes  and 
i their  friends,  and  to  go  out  as  missionaries 
among  the  heathen.  But  then  such  a thing 
had  never  been  heard  of ; and  when  this 
lady  desired  to  accompany  her  husband  to  a 
far  distant  country  for  this  ])urpose,  every 
one  opposed  it,  and  thought  it  very  foolish 
and  unreasonable  on  her  part.  However,  she 
persevered  in  her  intention;  and  she  was  the 
first  American  lady  who  ever  left  her  coun- 
tiy  for  such  a cause.” 

“ She  went  to  the  country  you  were  read- 
ing about,  I suppose,  mamma  ?” 

“Yes;  it  is  called  the  Burman  Empire: 
here  it  is — a long,  long  way  from  America, 
as  you  may  sec — besides  which,  the  people 
are  very  savage  and  barbarous,  as  the  story 
I am  about  to  tell  you  will  prove.  The 
lady’s  name  was  Judson — she  and  her  hus- 
band, Mr.  Judson,  lived  for  some  years  at  a 
place  called  Rangoon,  which  is  here  on  the 
sea  coast.  I hav^e  not  time  to  tell  you  all 
that  they  did  there,  though  the  account  is 
very  interesting,  and  they  had  the  happiness 
of  seeing  some  of  the  people  forsake  the  wor- 
ship of  idols,  and  learn  to  love  their  Saviour. 
After  a time,  however,  they  went  to  a town 

4 * 


i‘2 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


lurther  off,  which  was  the  largest  in  the  em- 
pire, and  wiiere  the  king  himself  lived — this 
town  was  called  Ava.  Here,  they  lived 
jieaceably  for  some  time;  they  had  a prettv* 
house,  and  a school,  where  they  taught  the 
children,  and  instructed  all  who  were  willing 
to  come  and  learn.  But  this  did  not  last 
long.  You  see,  here  is  India,  close  to  the 
Burmsfn  Emiiire;  now,  you  know  that  the 
English  people  have  taken  possession  of  the 
greater  part  of  India.  It  so  happened,  that 
just  at  this  time  the  Burmese  had  offended 
the  English,  and  a large  English  army  was 
sent  to  invade  their  country.  The  king  of 
Ava  was  in  a great  passion  when  he  heard 
of  their  arrival,  and  he  resolved  to  revenge 
himself  on  the  poor  missionaries.  One  day, 
just  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  were  preparing 
for  dinner,  in  rushed  about  a dozen  Burmans, 
amongst  whom  was  one  with  a spotted  face — 
a mark,  in  that  country,  of  his  being  an  exe- 
cutioner. They  immediately  asked  for  Mr. 
Judson,  seized  him,  tlirew  him  down,  pro- 
duced a small  cord,  which  they  use  as  an  in- 
'trument  of  torture,  by  tying  it  round  a per- 
son as  tight  as  possible,  and  having  bound 
him  fast,  they  dragged  him  off,  no  one  knew 
where.  Boor  Airs.  Judson!  what  do  you 
think  she  did,  when  she  was  left  alone  in  such 
a dreadful  manner  ?” 

“ Prayed  to  God,  mamma  ?” 

“ Yes,  she  prayed  to  God;  and  she  asked 
1 lim  to  give  her  strength  and  courage,  in  her 
distress.” 


STORY  OF  MRS.  JUDSON. 


43 


“ But  did  not  she  go  and  look  for  her  hus- 
band ?” 

“ She  could  not,  for  they  shut  her  up  in 
her  house,  and  kept  guard  outside,  to  prevent 
her  getting  out.  Next  moniing,  she  sent  a 
native,  whose  name  was  Moung  Ing,  (he 
was  a Christian,)  to  see  if  he  could  find  Mr. 
Judson.  He  did  find  him  at  last,  but  in  a sad 
state ; he  w’as  in  prison,  with  three  pair  of 
iron  fetters  on,  and  fastened  to  a long  pole, 
to  prevent  his  moving.  For  several  days 
Mrs.  Judson  was  kept  in  her  house ; but  at 
last  she  w'as  allowed  to  come  out,  by  pro- 
mising a present  to  the  governor  of  the  city. 
She  hastened  to  the  prison,  and  as  she  was 
not  allow’ed  to  enter,  Mr.  Judson  crawled  to 
the  door  to  speak  to  her,  but  she  was  driven 
away  by  the  jailers.  From  that  day,  during 
seven  long  and  sorrow'ful  months,  she  was 
occupied  every  day  in  trying  to  get  Mr. 
Judson  set  free,  but  in  vain — he  was  not 
kept  in  the  prison  all  this  time,  but  in  an 
open  shed,  within  the  prison  enclosure,  where 
she  wa-s  allowed  to  send  him  food  and  a mat 
to  sleep  on,  and  sometimes  she  was  allowed 
to  see  him ; but  often  and  often,  this  could 
only  be  after  it  was  quite  dark;  and  when 
she  came  out  of  the  ])rison,  she  had  a long 
way  to  walk  to  her  own  house,  alone  and  at 
night.  There,  she  says,  she  used  to  throw 
herself  down  on  a chair  which  had  been 
given  her  by  her  friends  at  home,  and  think 
of  some  new  scheme  for  the  release  of  Mr. 
Judson:  and  what  added  to  her  sufferings 


44 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


was,  that  she  lived  in  daily  fear  of  his  being 
cruelly  put  to  death.” 

“I  think  that  she  must  have  been  very 
sorry  that  she  ever  went  to  that  country.” 
“No,  I do  not  think  she  was;  she  does  not 
once  tell  us  that  she  thought  of  her  home  in 
America,  or  wished  she  was  there — but  she 
docs  tell  us  that,  in  her  sorrow,  she  thought 
of  that  peaceful,  happy  rest,  where  Jesus 
reigns — and  think  what  a satisfaction  it  must 
have  been  to  her  to  have  remembered,  that 
all  she  suffered  was  in  his  service — had  it 
not  been  for  her  love  to  him,  and  her  desire 
to  teach  others  about  him,  she  never  would 
have  fjone  amons:  such  a fierce  and  barbar- 
ous  people.  Now  what  does  my  little  Jane 
think  of  this  1 Does  she  think  the  lady  really 
was  happy  in  the  midst  of  all  her  sufferings, 
liecause  she  met  with  them  in  the  service  of 
God?”  “Yes,  mamma,  I dare  say  she  was.” 
“It  is  not  every  one  who  is  required  to  be  a 
missionary;  but  no  person  can  serve  God, 
who  does  not  daily  do  many  things,  and  bear 
with  many  things,  that  are  disagreeable  to 
themselves,  and  contrary  to  their  own  incli- 
nations. Do  you  remember  the  text  I taught 
you  about  this,  the  other  day,  and  the  mean- 
ing of  it  ? ‘ If  any  man  will  come  after  me, 

let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross 
daily  and  follow  me.’  ” “ You  said  that  those 

who  wished  to  be  Christians,  must  try  to  do 
in  every  thing  as  Christ  did,  and  not  as  they 
liked  best  themselves.”  “Yes,  and  then 
they  will  enjoy  the  same  kind  of  happiness 


STORY  OF  MRS.  JUDSON. 


45 


that  Mrs.  Judson  did,  though  in  a different 
manner;  for  it  is  said,  ‘Great  peace  have  they 
which  love  thy  law,  and  nothing  shall  offend 
them.’ 

“Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  some 
time,  until  one  morning  Mrs.  Judson  received 
a message  from  her  husband,  to  say,  that  he 
and  all  the  other  white  people  had  been  put 
into  the  inner  prison,  in  five  pairs  of  fetters 
each,  that  his  little  room  had  been  torn  down, 
and  his  mat,  pillow,  &c.,  been  taken  away 
by  the  jailers.  This  was  sad  news  to  her. 
She  went  to  the  prison  gate,  but  they  would 
not  let  her  in — all  was  as  still  as  death — not 
a white  face  was  to  be  seen,  nor  a vestige  of 
the  little  room  remaining.  She  then  went  to 
the  governor’s  house.  This  old  man  was 
very  kind  to  her,  and  felt  very  sorry  when  he 
saw  her.  But  why  then  had  he  put  Mr.  Jud- 
son into  the  inner  prison? — because  he  had 
been  ordered  to  kill  him  secretly,  so  he  had 
put  him  and  all  the  other  white  men  out  of 
sight.  Mrs.  Judson  was  therefoi’e  obliged  to 
go  home  again  very  sorrowful.  That  coun- 
try is  not  like  ours — the  weather  is  intensely 
hot;  and  as  there  were  a hundred  people  shut 
up  in  one  close  place,  without  a breath  of 
air,  except  from  the  cracks  in  tlie  boards, 
their  suflerings  were  very  dreadful ; they 
looked  more  like  dead  people  than  living 
ones;  and  day  after  day,  as  Mrs.  Judson 
went  and  looked  in  upon  them — for  she  was 
not  allowed  to  stay — she  went  away  more 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


4« 

unhappy  than  ever.  One  morning,  however, 
when  slie  went,  she  found  them  all  gone ! 
8he  went  from  one  place  to  another,  asking 
every  one  what  had  become  of  them ; but  no 
one  would  or  could  answer  her.  At  last  an 
old  w'oman  told  her  that  all  the  white  people 
had  been  sent  to  a town  some  w'ay  off. 
Taking  her  poor  little  baby  in  her  arms,  and 
accompanied  by  two  other  children,  whom 
she  took  care  of,  she  set  out  and  travelled  till 
she  came  to  the  ])lace.  Here,  for  a very 
long  time,  she  suffered  in  the  same  manner 
as  she  did  at  Ava;  but  she  did  not  know  the 
purpose  for  which  the  prisoners  were  brought 
to  that  dreadful  place,  which  was,  that  they 
were  to  be  burned  alive:  the  cruel  man,  how'- 
ever,  who  intended  this,  was  killed  himself, 
so  that  they  still  remained  in  prison.  In  the 
midst  of  their  sorrows,  Mrs.  Judson  was 
taken  ill  of  a dreadful  fever;  but  though  she 
was  so  ill,  and  not  able  to  move,  she  could 
■pray,  and  she  did  pray;  she  asked  God  to 
take  care  of  him,  and  she  felt  comforted  in 
the  thought  of  his  love  and  protection;  and 
in  time  she  recovered  from  her  illness.  In 
the  meanwhile,  the  English  army  came  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  city,  and  the  king  and  the 
people  got  more  and  more  frightened.  At 
last  they  sent  and  promised  to  give  the 
English  every  thing  they  wanted,  if  they 
would  only  promise  to  go  away.  Among 
the  things  which  the  English  demanded,  was, 
that  all  the  white  people,  (amongst  whom  of 


STORY  OF  MRS.  JUDSON. 


47 


course  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson.)  should  be 
sent  to  them.  This  the  king,  for  a long  time, 
refused — for  though  he  had  used  them  so 
cruelly,  he  did  not  wish  to  part  with  them  ; 
but  when  the  English  army  threatened  t(.» 
take  possession  of  his  city,  he  consented  to 
that,  and  every  thing  else  they  required.  If 
Mrs.  Judson  had  prayed  to  God  in  her  dis- 
tress, she  did  not  forget  to  praise  him  now, 
when,  safely  seated  in  the  boat,  with  her  hus- 
band and  little  baby,  and  sailing  down  the 
river  on  a beautiful  moonlight  night,  she  left 
for  ever  the  place  where  she  had  sufiered  so 
dreadfully.” 

“And  were  the  English  kind  to  her,  mam- 
ma, and  did  she  get  safely  back  to  her  own 
country,  and  live  happily  afterwards  ?” 

“ The  English  were  very  kind  to  her,  and 
I have  no  doubt  that  she  lived  happily  after- 
wards; but  she  did  not  desire  to  go  back  to 
her  own  country;  she  lived  and  died  among 
the  heathen,  trying  to  teach  them  about 
Christ;  Nor  was  it  without  suceess — five  I 
have  read  of  who  were  converted  and  be- 
came Christians;  and  some  of  them  who  loved 
Mrs.  Judson  very  much,  had  stayed  with  her 
all  the  time  Mr.  Judson  was  in  prison,  and 
did  every  thing  they  could  to  comfort  and 
assist  her.” 

“ But  five  seems  very  few,  mamma !” 

“Very  few,  Jane!  I do  not  know  that 
there  were  only  five;  but  if  so,  it  is  not  very 
few;  do  you  remember  the  text  you  have 


48 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


learnt,  about  the  angels  of  God  rejoicing  in 
heaven  over  the  soul  of  one  person  who  re- 
pents ? one,  only  one;  how  can  you  say,  then,  i 
that  five  are  very  few 


/ 


DUSSELTIIAL  ABBEY. 


It  is  a happy  thing  to  labour  for  the  cause  of 
Christ  among  the  distant  heathen;  but  there 
are  also  missionaries  at  home,  whose  work  is 
often  equally  useful,  and  equally  blest.  It  is 
about  one  of  these  that  I am  now  going  to 
tell  you. 

It  was  a lovely  morning  in  spring,  when  a 
little  boy  was  w’alking  alone  in  a beautiful 
garden;  alone,  as  he  thought,  but  not  quite 
so,  for  his  fond  mamma  wdio  had  sent  him 
out,  w'as  standing  at  a wdndow  of  her  castle 
watchins;  her  dear  child.  The  nio;ht  had 
been  stormy,  and  she  had  sent  him  out  to 
see  if  any  of  her  flowers  had  been  blown 
down;  and  if  there  were,  to  raise  them,  and 
tie  them  up  again.  For  some  time  the  little 
Adelbert  pursued  his  occupation,  enjoying 
the  sweetness  of  the  morning,  as  cheerful 
and  gay  as  the  little  birds  who  w'ere  sing- 
ing among  the  branches  over  his  head.  At 
last,  as  he  was  looking  up,  watching  some 
pigeons  which  w’ere  flying  about  at  a dis- 
tance, he  saw  one  little  dove  fluttering  fee- 


50 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


bly  on  the  wing;  its  movements  showeii 
that  its  strength  had  failed,  and  it  w'as  fall- 
ing to  the  ground ; its  companions  hovered 
round,  but  could  not  help  it;  little  Adelbert 
knew  that  immediately  under  it  there  was  a 
large  pond,  and  that  if  it  fell  into  it,  it 
would  certainly  be  drowned.  Ofl'  he  ran  to 
its  assistance.  There  w’as  a bridge  across  the  | 
pond,  and  a boat  in  it,  but  the  bridge  was  I 
too  high  above  the  water,  to  enable  him  to 
reach  the  dove,  and  the  boat  was  too  far  off 
While  he  was  considering  what  he  should 
do,  the  poor  dove  dropped  faster  and  faster 
through  the  air,  until  at  last  it  fell  as  Adel-  I 
bert  had  feared,  into  the  water ; it  faintly  ! 
stretched  out  its  scarcely  hedged  wdngs,  and 
Adelbert  knew  not  how  to  rescue  it;  until 
he  joyfully  saw  at  a short  distance  a wash- 
ing tub,  which  the  maids  had  been  using  for 
the  clothes.  Down  he  rolled  it  into  the  pond, 
and  seizing  a pole  wdiich  lay  near,  pushed 
otf  to  the  hel]i  of  the  drowning  dove.  He 
caught  hold  of  it,  just  as  it  wms  in  the  act  of 
sinking,  took  it  out  of  the  water,  and  wiped 
its  wet  wdngs  with  his  handkerchief,  and 
not  knowing  what  to  do  with  it,  put  it  in- 
side his  jacket,  whilst  he  w’as  occupied  in 
setting  back  again  to  the  shore.  The  Coun- 
tess  had  watched  her  child  with  great  anxiety, 
during  this  time : Adelbert  was  wmong  in 
getting  into  the  washing-tub,  for  although 
we  should  ahvays  be  ready  to  risk  our  own 
lives  to  sav'e  one  of  our  fellow'-men,  it  is  not 
right  to  do  so  for  the  sake  of  a bird  ; yet  the 


DUSSELTHAL  ABBEY. 


51 


Countess  was  not  angry,  for  she  felt  over- 
joyed, to  see  that  her  Adelbert  possessed 
so  much  iiumanity  and  kindness;  still  she 
watched  him  anxiously,  till  he  got  safe  to 
shore.  Warmth  had  restored  the  dove;  it 
opened  its  red  eyes,  and  the  happy  Adelbert 
began  to  feed  it  with  a piece  of  bread : he 
then  ran  into  the  castle  to  his  mother,  to  tell 
her  all  that  happened,  but  she  knew  al- 
ready, and  clasping  her  dear  little  boy  in 
her  arms,  she  pressed  liim  to  her,  and  solemn- 
ly said,  “ God  bless  you,  my  dear  child  I 
May  you  never  show  less  promptitude  or 
intrepidity  in  rescuing  unfortunate  men !” 
'rhese  words  went,  as  the  words  of  a fond 
Mother  often  do,  to  the  heart  of  her  child. 
They  were  not  forgotten  through  long  after 
years,  and  the  good  Countess,  before  she 
died,  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  him,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  save  hundreds  of  his 
fellow-creatures  from  a fate,  far  worse  than 
that  which  awaited  the  drowning  dove.  1 
will  tell  you  how  this  came  about.  When 
(munt  Von  der  Recke,  for  such  was  the 
name  of  the  little  boy,  became  a man,  Prus- 
sia, his  native  country,  had  been  desolated 
by  a long  and  dreadful  war.  You  do  not 
know  what  a terrible  thing  war  is.  Little 
children,  when  they  hear  of  great  battles 
and  splendid  victories,  do  not  know  the 
sufferings  with  which  they  are  purchased ; 
for  my  part,  although  I love  my  country  as 
well  as  any  one,  and  hope  that  it  may 
always  be  as  flourishing,  and  prosperous,  as 


52 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


it  now  is,  yet  I cannot  help  thinking  it  is  a 
very  wicked  thing  to  go  to  war. 

At  the  time  of  which  I am  speaking,  the 
countiy  had  been  laid  waste,  the  towns  made 
desolate,  and  many,  many  families  utterly 
ruined.  There  was  another  dreadful  conse- 
quence of  the  war  in  Prussia  : many  people 
lost,  not  only  their  property,  but  their  lives, 
and  their  poor  little  children  were  left  to 
wander  about  the  world  without  any  one  to 
take  care  of  them.  Fatherless,  motherless, 
homeless,  some  wandered  from  door  to  door, 
begging  a bit  of  bread  ; some  hid  themselves 
in  the  woods  and  lived  like  savages  upon 
berries  and  birds'  eggs,  which  they  found  in 
the  nests ; and  some  lived  in  the  holes  and 
corners  of  the  city,  in  dirt  and  wretchedness, 
among  thieves  and  beggars,  and  learned  to 
beg  and  steal  like  them.  Count  Von  der 
Recke  pitied  these  multitudes  of  unhappy 
children,  and  although  he  and  his  family  had 
lost  a great  part  of  their  property,  during  the 
war,  he  resolved  to  do  something  for  their 
relief.  He,  therefore,  bought  an  estate,  called 
Dusselthal  Abbey,  and  went  to  live  there, 
devoting  his  life  to  the  care  and  instruction 
of  the  poor  oiyhans,  whom  he  collected  from 
the  woods,  and  towns,  and  villages  around. 
The  Count,  was  a nobleman,  and  might  have 
lived  only  for  his  own  ]>leasure  and  amuse- 
ment, as  many  do ; but  he  was  a pious  man, 
one  who  loved  Christ,  and  was  willing  to 
give  up  his  own  comfort  to  do  good  to  his 
fellow  creatures.  Instead  of  having  fine  car- 


DUSSELTHAL  ABBEY. 


53 


riages  and  horses,  plenty  of  servants,  and  an 
elegant  house,  he  lived  in  a plain  and  hum- 
ble manner,  eating  black  bread,  and  drinking 
water,  and  devoting  his  money  and  his  time, 
to  the  orphans  he  had  received. 

Dussellhal  Abbey  is  a large  mansion, 
situated  in  a pleasant  valley,  near  the  town 
of  Dusseldorf.  It  has  a chapel  belonging 
to  it,  gardens,  and  play-grounds  for  the  chil- 
dren; they  have  school-rooms,  where  they  are 
taught  to  read  and  write,  and  work-shops, 
where  they  are  taught  dilTerent  trades,  in 
order  that  they  may  be  able  to  work  for  their 
living,  when  they  are  grown  up.  At  the 
hour  of  five  in  summer,  and  six  in  winter,  a 
bell  rings  for  them  to  get  up,  and  when  they 
are  dressed,  another  bell  calls  them  to  pray- 
ers. An  hour  after  comes  the  sound  of  the 
breakfast  bell ; and  when  breakfast  is  over, 
they  all  go  to  the  chapel,  where  they  hear 
the  Bible  read,  and  are  taught  their  duty  as 
Christians.  From  thence  they  all  separate 
to  their  different  school-rooms,  where  they 
are  taught  writing,  reading,  arithmetic,  geo- 
graphy, and  history.  At  noon,  they  have 
their  dinner,  after  which,  they  go  out  to  play, 
in  the  garden  and  play-ground.  After  their 
time  for  play  is  over,  the  bell  rings  again  for 
labour,  and  they  each  go  to  the  different 
rooms  and  work-shops,  where  they  are  taught 
their  future  trade.  Some  learn  to  colour 
maps,  pictures,  and  plants — some  to  make 
shoes — some  to  bake,  or  work  upon  the  farm, 
others  to  be  smiths,  gardeners,  or  millers;  but 
5 * 


54 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


they  all  attend  the  tailors  room,  and  are 
taught  to  make  their  own  clothes,  that  they 
may  never  go  in  rags  again.  At  seven  they 
have  their  supper  ; after  which,  they  all  as- 
semble for  evening  .w'orship.  Sometimes, 
interesting  stories  about  missionaries,  are 
then  told  them,  or  something  of  importance 
that  has  occurred  during  the  day,  is  related, 
or  any  instance  of  kindness  showm,  or  interest 
taken  in  them  by  strangers,  is  told  them. 
The  day  is  closed  wdth  hymns  and  sacred 
music,  which  they  sing  very  sweetly. 

Do  you  not  think  these  children  ought  to 
have  loved  the  Count,  who  had  taken  them 
from  so  much  misery  and  wretchedness,  and 
placed  them  in  such  a comfortable  home? 
They  ought  to  have  done  so,  certainly,  but 
many  of  them  were  very  ungrateful.  You 
w'ould  have  supposed  that  a number  of  starv- 
ing children  would  have  been  thankful  for 
good  food ; but  no,  they  had  learnt  to  prefer 
the  sour  fruit,  and  raw  vegetables  which  they 
used  to  get  w hen  wandering  about,  to  the 
wholesome  food  given  them  by  the  Count; 
and  they  liked  much  better,  many  of  them  to 
go  about  in  dirt,  and  rags,  than  to  w'ear  neat 
and  proper  clothing;  for  they  looked  upon 
regular  meals,  and  clean  clothes,  as  a re- 
straint, and  were  better  pleased  to  go  wild,  as 
they  used  to  do.  We  may  see  from  this,  the 
advantage  of  contracting  good  habits.  You 
are  accustomed  to  be  well  dressed,  to  have 
your  meals  at  the  usual  time,  and  to  eat 
proper  food  ; and  so  far  from  thinking  these 


DrSSELTHAL  ABBEY. 


55 


things  a restraint,  you  would  think  your- 
selves very  unfortunate  to  be  without  them. 
So  it  is  with  all  good  habits ; they  are  a re- 
straint at  first,  but  when  we  become  used  to 
them,  they  are  a comfort  and  a pleasure.  To 
submit  our  own  wills  to  the  commandments 
of  God,  is  often  a difficult  lesson  to  learn : 
but  when,  by  the  help  of  God,  we  become 
used  to  it,  then  it  is  a blessing ; and  the  peace 
of  mind,  cheerfulness,  humility,  and  gentle- 
ness, which  we  have  learnt,  make  our  own 
happiness,  as  well  as  that  of  those  around 
us ; and  protect  us  from  many  things  that 
would  otherwise  vex  us.  “Ye  are  my 
friends,”  said  the  Lord,  “if  ye  keep  my 
commandments;”  happy  are  the  friends  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ! But  to  keep  his  com- 
mandments, we  must  learn  to  deny  ourselves, 
to  submit  to  constraint,  and  to  refrain  from 
many  things  which  are  agreeable  to  our  own 
inclination.  There  was  also  another  cause, 
which  inclined  these  orphan  children  to  hate 
every  thing  which  was  good,  and  to  love 
that  which  was  bad;  they  had  all  their  lives 
lived  among  wicked  people,  and  evil  exam- 
I pie  always  does  harm  to  those  who  witness 
it.  There  is  a small^creature  called  the  cha- 
; meleon,  which  has  the  singular  property  of 
constantly  changing  its  colour;  being  green 
upon  green  grass,  red  upon  red  cloth,  and  so 
on.  Now,  that  is  just  the  case  with  us ; we 
are  too  apt  to  resemble  those  whom  we  are 
constantly  with;  so  that  we  should  be  care- 
ful to  associate  with  good  people,  whom  we 


56 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


should  wish  to  be  like,  and  not  with  those 
whose  example  we  ought  to  avoid,  for  we 
may  be  sure  that  if  we  are  constantly  with 
them,  there  is  danger  of  our  becoming  like 
them,  whether  we  are  sensible  of  it,  or  not. 

Some  of  the  children  at  Dusselthal,  weary 
of  the  restraint  which  they  considered  so  dis- 
agreeable, ran  away  and  resumed  their  beg- 
ging and  wandering  life.  One  of  them  named 
])iedrich,  having  wandered  about  some  days 
in  the  woods,  began  to  be  sorry  for  what  he 
had  done,  and  to  wish  to  return  to  his  kind 
friends.  So  he  found  his  way  to  a town,  and 
putting  the  following  letter  into  the  post- 
office,  waited  for  an  answer;  “Dear  Count, 

I cannot  omit  to  write  to  you.  1 pray  you 
whom  I have  so  often  odended  to  forgive 
me.  I perceive  now  my  errors,  and  I beg 
you  will  this  once  receive  me  again  as  a poor 

lost  sheep.  I beg  you  will  do  it thus 

wishes  your  affectionate  Diedrich.”  He  for- 
got however  to  put  a direction,  so  that  the  | 

Count  did  not  know  how  to  write  to  him : j 

he  employed  the  police  to  see  if  they  could  | 

find  him,  but  in  vain  : at  last,  he  sent  a letter  ! 

to  him  to  stay  at  the  post-office.  Day  after  : 
day  poor  Diedrich  called  there  in  vain,  for  : 

the  people  at  the  post-office,  did  not  think  the  ' 

letter  could  be  for  that  ragged  boy ; until  at  i 
last,  teazed  by  his  constant  inquiries,  they  j 
asked  his  name,  and  finding  the  (fount’s  let-  | 
ler  really  was  for  him,  they  gave  it  him.  To 
his  great  joy  it  contained  his  pardon,  and 
permission  to  return  to  Dusselthal,  which  he 


DUSSELTHAL  ABBEY. 


57 


accordingly  did.  He  had  not  been  long  there, 
however,  before  he  committed  a theft,  and 
ran  away  to  the  mountains.  Six  months  af- 
ter, he  was  again  found  under  the  walls  of 
Dusselthal,  and  again  pardoned  and  received. 
But  his  evil  habits  soon  returned,  and,  after 
remaining  a short  time,  one  cold  winter’s 
night,  he  again  set  off  with  a number  of 
worthless  creatui’es  in  masks,  and  was  seen 
no  more. 

There  were  many  other  cases  like  this,  yet 
the  Count  was  not  discouraged  ; he  patiently 
persevered  in  his  kind  efforts  and  was  in  seve- 
ral instances  richly  rewarded.  We  should 
never  be  in  a hurry  for  a quick  return ; if 
you  sow  any  seeds  in  your  garden,  you  must 
wait  several  weeks  before  they  come  up,  and 
weeks  and  weeks  more,  before  they  pro- 
duce flowers ; neither  do  the  prettiest  flow- 
ers always  come  up  first.  We  should  there- 
fore learn  to  wait  patiently  for  every  thing. 
The  Count  was  very  happy,  as  you  may  sup- 
pose, when  he  saw  any  of  the  poor  children, 
whom  he  had  taken  out  of  such  a deplorable 
state,  learn  to  be  good,  and  industrious  : they 
were  not  all  like  Diedrich,  several  of  them 
amply  repaid  him,  for  his  kindness,  by  their 
own  improvement,  which  was  what  he  de- 
sired. Amongst  this  number  was  Clemens. 
When  he  first  arrived  at  Uusselthal,  although 
he  was  thirteen  years  old,  he  could  hardly 
speak  intelligibly;  his  language  resembled 
the  grunting  of  the  pigs  he  had  been  used  to 
keep  company  with  in  the  woods.  He  had 


58 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


no  father,  and  no  mother,  nor  could  he  recol- 
lect the  time  when  he  had  any  one  to  love 
or  to  care  for  him,  nor  give  any  account  of 
where  lie  came  from.  As  he  became  more 
familiar  w'itli  them,  they  found  out  that  he 
had  been  employed  as  swine-herd  by  a peas- 
ant ; he  used  to  take  his  drove  of  pigs  into  [ 
the  fields,  far  from  all  human  habitations, 
and  there  he  ate  and  slept  amongst  them;  I 
his  favourite  recollections  when  he  began  to  j 
talk  of  past  times,  always  related  to  these  j 
pigs,  and  he  used  to  tell  his  companions  at  ; 
Dusselthal,  long  stories  about  them.  Ilis 
unfeeling  master  scarcely  allowed  him  sulli-  j 
cient  food  to  keej)  him  from  being  starved,  ' 

and  often  the  poor  little  boy  faint  and  hun-  j 

gry,  was  glad  to  eat  the  herbage  such  as  the 
pigs  eat.  It  was  a long  time  before  he  could 
be  made  to  give  up  the  almost  brutish  habits, 
which  he  had  acquired  during  a childhood 
passed  in  such  a manner.  One  of  his  great- 
est luxuries,  w'as,  when  having  stole  secretly 
upon  all  fours  into  the  garden,  he  could 
browse  without  interruption  upon  the  salad 
beds,  which  were  to  him  a delicious  treat, 
neither  was  it  very  easy  to  make  him  forego 
it.  After  a long  series  of  care  and  teaching 
however,  his  amiable  qualities  began  to  show 
themselves.  In  process  of  time  his  conduct 
became  so  kind  and  obliging,  that  it  gained 
him  the  affection  of  all  his  companions,  while 
his  humility  and  gentleness  made  him  a fa- 
vourite with  his  teachers,  and  an  example  to 
those  who  had  enjoyed  far  greater  advan- 


Ct’SSELTHAL  ABBEY. 


r>p 

lages.  Witfiin  a very  few  years  he  was  still 
living  at  Dusselthai,  industrious  and  happy. 

I could  tell  you  a great  many  more  stories 
about  the  Count  and  his  children;  of  the 
Strange  habits  of  the  unfortunate  little  beg- 
gars, and  of  the  extraordinary  dress  in  which 
they  used  to  arrive:  their  ragged  Prussian 
coats,  French  tattered  cloaks,  Russian  caps 
scarcely  stuck  upon  the  clotted  fragments  of 
uncombed  hair,  and  their  toes  thrust  through 
the  remains  of  ladies’  embroidered  shoes;  ot' 
the  unwillingness  with  which  they  submit  to 
be  disrobed  of  their  finery,  although  it  often 
swarms  with  vermin.  I could  tell  you  of 
thpir  evil  ways,  their  swearing,  lying,  steal- 
ing, and  idleness,  which  they  had  learnt  of 
the  wicked  people  they  had  been  with,  in 
many  of  the  different  nations  of  Europe 
througlf  which  they  had  wandered.  I could 
show  you  the  same  children,  neat  and  clean 
in  their  persons,  content  with  proper  food, 
willing  to  submit  to  proper  restraint,  learn- 
ing to  read  and  write,  and  acquiring  the 
knowledge  of  a trade,  which  might  support 
them  in  comfort  and  honesty  when  they 
grew  up.  I could  also  show  them  to  you 
singing  the  praises  of  God,  learning  the  love 
of  Christ,  and  in  some  happy  instances  de- 
lighting in  the  knowledge.  But  it  would 
make  my  story  too  long.  Yet  I must  ask 
you,  whether,  if  you  have  a comfortable 
home,  and  kind  parents,  you  ought  not  to 
be  very  grateful  to  God  for  these  blessings ; 
and  whether  you  ought  not  to  show  your 


(50 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


gratitude  by  giving  either  now,  or  at  some 
future  time,  when  you  have  an  opportunity, 
something  to  assist  in  taking  care  of  or- 
phans. 

One  tiling  more  I will  add — Do  you  not 
think  the  Count  Von  der  Recke  is  happier 
than  if  he  had  passed  his  life  in  ease  and  in- 
dolence ? I am  sure  he  is.  In  consulting  our 
ease,  we  do  not  consult  our  happiness : that 
is,  by  giving  ourselves  trouble,  and  exerting 
ourselves  for  the  welfare  of  others,  we  are 
tar  more  happy  than  while  we  are  only  in- 
tent upon  our  own  enjoyment — not  that  we 
ought  to  exert  ourselves  for  the  sake  of  being 
happy  ourselves,  but  in  order  to  make  others 
so,  and  then  our  own  happiness  will  follow  as 
a matter  of  course. 

One  of  our  first  considerations  should  be, 
to  make  ourselves  useful.  Have  y«u  ever 
noticed  what  a pretty  web  the  spider  makes? 
the  long  fine  threads,  drawn  regularly  from 
point  to  point,  and  interwoven  so  beautifully 
together ; and  if  it  happens  to  be  outside  the 
window,  you  may  see  those  pretty  threads, 
on  a fine  dewy  morning,  all  covered  with  lit- 
tle rows  of  dew  drops  glistening  in  the  sun 
like  pearls;  and  what  is  that  web  for?  To 
catch  poor  flies  for  the  spider’s  dinner.  Now 
1 do  not  see  why  we  should  find  fault  with 
the  spider  for  catching  flies,  any  more  than 
with  ourselves  for  eating  beef  and  mutton; 
yet  you  know  we  do  not  particularly  admire 
him,  and  far  from  liking  his  web,  we  always 
sweep  it  away ; but  we  do  not  treat  the  silk 


DUSSELTHAL  ABBEY. 


61 


worm  in  this  way,  because  liis  web  is  useful 
to  us,  and  makes  us  a comfortable  dress,  and 
we  think  mucli  of  his  skill  and  ingenuity. 
Now,  while  you  are  only  occupied  for  5'our- 
self,  you  are  like  the  spider,  but  when  you 
are  doing  any  thing  which  will  be  useful  to 
any  one  else,  you  are  like  the  siik  worm 
which  is  far  better. 

Every  one  who  wishes  it,  may  be  a mis- 
sionary at  home,  although  they  may  not  be 
able  to  receive  beggars  and  orphans  in  their 
house  to  provide  for  them,  and  instruct  them 
like  the  good  Count  Von  der  Rccke : he  is 
happy,  for  God  has  said  “ they  that  turn 
many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars, 
for  ever  and  ever but  those  who  have  no 
opportunity  to  do  as  he  has  done,  may  al- 
ways find  at  home,  some  poor  and  ignorant 
people,  w'ho  need  their  assistance  and  instruc- 
tion, as  much  as  the  distant  heathen. 


6 


THE  PANORAMA. 


*•  Mamma,”  said  little  Jane,  “ I’ve  such  good 
news  for  you!”  It  was  very  early  in  the 
morning,  but  a bright  ray  of  light  shone 
through  the  opening  of  the  window-shutter, 
and  even  peeped  in,  through  the  curtain  of 
mamma's  bed.  Jane  had  scrambled  up  on 
a chair,  and  her  little  face  was  now  just 
making  its  appearance  above  mamma’s  pil- 
low. “What's  the  matter,  Jane  I”  “Oh, 
mamma,  have  you  forgot  the  Panorama !” 
Mamma,  to  whom  the  Panorama  was  not 
an  object  of  such  great  consequence,  as  it 
was  to  her  little  daughter,  had  (juite  forgot- 
ten it,  and  felt  rather  vexed  at  being  woke 
at  such  an  unseasonable  hour  in  the  morn- 
ing. She,  however,  inquired  what  was  the 
good  news.  “Why,  mamma,  that  it  is  a 
tine  morning,  and  we  shall  be  able  to  go.” 
Jane’s  mamma  tried  to  go  to  sleep  again, 
but  she  could  not.  So  after  some  delay,  she 
got  up,  and  when  she  was  dressed,  she  called 
Jane  to  take  a walk  with  her  in  the  garden. 
All  the  beautiful  flowers  were  fresh  and 
fragrant  with  the  dew  of  the  night,  and  the 
62 


THE  PANORAMA. 


63 


little  birds  were  singing  their  merry  song  in 
the  bright  sunshine.  Whilst  they  were  walk- 
ing, Jane’s  mamma  talked  to  her  child  about 
the  Panorama  they  were  going  to  see:  she 
told  her  it  represented  a beautiful  island,  but 
that  the  people  were  both  heathen  and  sa- 
vages ; they  had  no  houses  to  live  in,  nor 
clothes  to  wear,  nor  any  fields  planted  with 
corn  to  make  them  bread ; but  worse  far 
than  this,  they  knew  nothing  of  God,  until 
some  kind  missionaries  went  to  teach  them  : 
and  Jane  was  very  much  pleased  when  her 
mamma  told  her  she  would  see  the  picture 
of  the  missionary’s  house  and  his  garden, 
and  the  church  which  had  been  built.  After 
breakfast  they  put  on  their  bonnets,  and  as 
Jane’s  mamma  was  not  rich,  and  had  no 
carriage  of  her  own,  they  walked  down  the 
hill  to  wait  for  the  omnibus  to  take  them  up 
to  town.  Now  it  happened  that  morning, 
that  there  were  several  people  in  the  omni- 
bus who  knew  Jane’s  mamma,  so  they  be- 
gan to  talk  to  her  about  ditferent  things,  and 
.Jane  was  left  very  much  to  herself.  Now 
Jane  was  very  uncomfortable;  a poor  shab- 
bily dressed  woman  sat  next  to  her,  who 
had  several  parcels  and  a bundle.  Jane  did 
not  like  that  her  pretty  muslin  frock  should 
touch  the  woman’s  clothes,  so  she  held  it  as 
much  as  possible  away  from  her.  Tlie  woman 
stopped  to  get  out  just  at  the  same  time  that 
Jane  and  her  mamma  did,  and  she  seemed 
to  want  Jane  to  hold  some  of  her  parcels  for 
her.  Jane  had  been  too  well  brought  up. 


MISSIONAUY  TALES. 


G 4 


positively  to  refuse,  so  she  looked  out  of  the 
window,  while  her  mamma  was  getting  out 
of  the  omnibus,  and  then  followed  her,  and 
away  they  walked  to  the  Panorama.  When 
they  got  there  Jane  was  very  much  delight- 
ed with  the  magnificent  scenery.  The  time 
represented  was  early  in  the  morning ; the 
place  was  a large  island,  surrounded  by  the 
calm  blue  sea;  in  the  distance  were  several 
other  islands  and  rocks;  the  distant  hills  of 
the  island  were  covered  with  beautiful  trees, 
while  nearer  might  be  seen  bright  scarlet 
flowers,  such  as  we  keep  in  hot-houses  and 
green-houses,  but  there  they  grow  wild 
amongst  the  bushes.  On  one  side  was  a group 
of  savages,  dancing  in  a wild  and  tierce 
manner,  and  drawn  up  on  the  beach  was  a 
large  canoe,  out  of  which  came  a number  of 
ferocious  looking  men,  who  were,  returning 
from  one  of  their  wicked  and  cruel  expedi- 
tions. On  the  opposite  shore  was  a very  dif- 
ferent scene;  just  at  the  foot  of  the  wood- 
covered  hills,  close  to  the  blue  sea,  were  a 
few  cottages,  which,  with  their  barns  and 
hay-stacks  round  them,  looked  like  a quiet 
little  English  village.  After  Jane  had  passed 
some  time  in  admiring  all  she  saw,  her  mam- 
ma told  her  that  the  island  was  called  New 
Zealand,  and  that  the  English  cottages  were 
the  missionary  settlement ; and  she  pointed 
out  to  her  the  pretty  plots  of  green  grass  by 
which  it  was  surrounded,  the  seeds  of  which 
were  brought  from  England,  for  they  have 
no  grass  in  that  country;  and  she  showed 


THE  PANORAMA. 


65 


her  the  missionary’s  house,  and  the  school, 
and  the  church.  Jane  thought  it  did  not 
look  much  like  a church,  but  she  was  pleased 
when  she  saw  all  the  little  New  Zealand  chil- 
dren going  to  school.  She  had  read  a letter 
which  they  had  written  to  some  children  in 
this  country,  and  she  knew  that  they  learned 
about  Christ,  and  she  thought  what  a differ- 
ence there  was  between  them  and  the  wild 
savages  on  the  other  shore.  Her  mamma  told 
her  how  kind  the  missionaries  had  been  to  the 
; New  Zealanders  in  many  things,  and  how 
; they  had  taught  the  New  Zealanders  about 
God.  Jane  could  think  of  nothing,  and  speak 
! of  nothing  all  day,  when  she  got  home,  but 
the  kindness  of  the  missionaries,  in  going  to 
i that  distant  island,  and  of  how  happy  they 
must  have  been,  when  any  of  the  New  Zea- 
j landers,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  became 
j Christians  ; and  at  last  she  said,  “ Mamma, 
how  I should  like  to  be  a missionary  !”  Mam- 
ma shook  her  head.  “ Yes,  indeed,  mamma,’’ 
said  Jane,  more  earnestly,  “ that  I should  !” 
Then  you  have  much  to  learn  first : why, 
you  did  not  even  like  that  woman  in  the  om- 
nibus to  sit  next  to  you  !"’  “ Oh,  mamma, 

but  then  she  was  so  dirty!”  “Dirty  ! I as- 
sure you,  she  was  beautifully  neat  and  clean, 
compared  with  the  New  Zealanders.”  “ But 
you  know,  mamma,  that  is  quite  different.” 
“Not  at  all  different:  if  you  could  not  bear 
with  a dirty  woman  in  the  omnibus,  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  you  could  not  bear  with  the 
G * 


6G 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


New  Zealanders.  A missionary  must  try  to 
})lease  others,  in  order  that  lie  may  have  an 
opportunity  of  teaching  them  about  Christ, 
I’or  no  one  will  listen  to  the  instructions  of  a 
person  whom  they  do  not  love.  lie  will 
have  much  to  bear  with,  and  must,  there- 
fore, learn  not  to  think  about  his  own  com- 
fort and  accommodation.  Those  who  will 
not  begin  at  home,  are  not  likely  to  succeed 
abroad. 

New  Zealand  is  a very  pretty  place  to 
look  at,  in  the  Panorama,  but  that  you  may 
understand  that  it  is  not  such  a ]ileasant 
place  to  live  in,  I will  give  you  an  account 
of  what  happened,  not  long  ago,  to  a mis- 
sionary family  there.  Jane's  mamma  took 
a book  out  of  her  work-basket,  and  Jane  sat 
down,  on  her  little  stool,  to  listen  to  the 
story.  “ A man  of  the  name  of  Towee  Ta- 
boo, instead  of  knocking  in  the  usual  man- 
ner, for  admittance,  chose  to  jump  over  the 
fence  and  in  doin^  so,  lie  hurt  his  foot.  He 
then  commenced  jumiiing  about  the  yard, 
making  many  wild  antics,  and  brandishing 
his  s])ear,  with  furious  gestures ; he  then 
rushed  up  to  the  missionary,  and  demanded 
to  be  paid  for  having  hurt  his  foot.”  “ Oh  ! 
really,  mamma  !”  exclaimed  Jane,  “ that  was 
too  bad.”  “ So  tbe  missionary  thought. 
Jane,  and  he  refused.”  Towee  tlien  snatched 
up  an  iron  pot,  which  he  was  going  to 
carry  otf.  but  the  missionary  would  not  al- 
low it.  Towee  then  began  to  stamp  about 


THE  PANOEAMA. 


67 


the  yard,  with  a measured  pace,  and  horrid 
gestures,  every  now  and  then  stopping  or 
squatting  down,  thumping  his  breast,  and 
panting,  as  if  trying  to  excite  his  own  rage 
to  the  utmost,  before  making  a fatal  spring. 
The  missionary  not  being  able  to  cjuiet  him, 
left  him  to  himself,  and  joined  the  rest  of  the 
' family,  it  being  the  time  for  prayers.  After 
prayers,  Towee  came  to  the  window,  and 
putting  in  the  leg  he  had  hurt,  again  de- 
manded payment.  The  missionary  told  him 
he  had  acted  very  wrong,  that  he  must  go 
away,  and  come  again  to-morrow,  in  a pro- 
per manner,  and  knock  at  the  gate,  like  Mr. 
Tekokee,  Mr.  Wattoo,  Mr.  Eurota,  Mr.  Uark- 
eye,  and  then  lie  would  let  him  in,  and  say, 
‘How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Towee  ?’ and  invite 
him  to  breakfast.  This,  however,  by  no 
means  pacilied  him;  he  talked  about  stay- 
ing many  days,  and  burning  the  house  ; that 
he  should  stay  to-day,  to-morrow,  and  five 
days  more,  that  he  should  make  a great 
fight,  and  that  ‘ ten,  and  ten,  and  ten,  and 
ten  men,  holding  up  his  fingers  as  he  spoke, 
would  come  and  set  fire  to  the  place.  The 
natives,  who  lived  wuth  the  missionary,  now 
got  frightened,  and  coming  to  the  window, 
they  called  to  the  missionary’s  wife,  and 
said,  “ To-morrow,  you  see  a great  fire — the 
house — oh,  yes! — the  children  dead — all 
dead — a great  many  men, — a great  fight — 
plenty  muskets.’  The  missionaries  then  shut 
up  their  house,  and  closed  all  the  windows. 


G8 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


and  some  of  tliem  went  to  bed,  and  some 
remained  to  keep  watch.  Nothing  further, 
however,  happened  that  night,  except  that 
they  heard  Towee,  chaunting,  or  rather 
yelling  a horrible  ditty,  by  which  he  fancied 
he  could  bewitch  the  missionaries.  Very 
early  in  the  morning,  they  were  awakened 
by  the  savages  who  were  continually  ar- 
riving, until  the  premises  were  entirely  sur- 
rounded. However,  the  family  ventured  to 
assemble,  and  go  to  breakfast,  and  even  to 
send  out  some  to  their  uninvited  guests, 
hoping  to  appease  them.  Towee  drank  the 
tea,  but  was  soon  again  seen  prancing  about 
the  yard,  with  many  other  warriors,  all  hide- 
ous figures,  armed  with  spears  and  hatchets, 
and  some  few  wdth  muskets.  The  missionary 
went  out  to  endeavour  to  appease  the  tumult, 
leaving  his  wife  and  children  in  the  house. 
Here  they  sat  nearly  all  day,  trembling  with 
fear,  and  almost  fainting  with  the  heat,  as 
the  windows  were  blocked  up,  with  ranges 
of  native  heads  looking  in.  The  noise  and 
clamor  outside,  were  very  great,  and  the 
poor  little  children  began  to  cry  in  the  fear 
that  the  savages  would  kill  their  papa,  and 
themselves  too,  when  they  heard  the  slight  rush 
walls  of  the  mission-house,  shaking  all  around 
them.*’ 

“ Oh,  mamma,  if  I had  been  there,  how 
frightened  I should  have  been.” 

“Well,  so  they  were:  but  one  little  boy 
remembered  he  had  a F riend,  who  was  able 


THE  PANORAMA. 


69 


to  take  care  of  them  all ; and  he  began  to  re- 
peat the  first  lines  of  a little  hymn  he  had 
learnt : — » 

“ Jesus,  thou,  our  guardian  be. 

Sweet  it  is,  to  trust  in  thee” — 

and  said,  he  should  like  to  say  it  for  a month; 
and  then,  when  the  fight  came  again,  he 
could  pray  to  himself,  and  he  would  pray  the 
great  God  to  make  these  poor  creatures  know 
Him,  and  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
then  they  would  leave  off  fighting.  He  then 
repeated  what  his  mamma  had  told  him,  to 
his  little  sister,  and  told  her,  that  a woman 
and  four  little  children,  could  do  nothing;  but 
they  could  pray  to  God,  and  he  could  keep 
the  natives  from  hurting  their  poor  papa.  It 
was  not  the  natives  that  they  ought  to  be 
afraid  of,  for  they  could  not  keep  them  out 
of  heaven,  if  they  killed  them;  but  they 
should  be  afraid  of  sin.”  Thus  he  tried  to 
comfort  his  little  sister,  and  God  heard  their 
prayers,  for  their  papa  was  not  killed,  but 
came  back  to  them  again  safe,  after  the  dis- 
turbance was  over. 

“ And  so,  mamma,  Mr.  Towee  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  getting  paid,  for  having  hurt  himself, 
by  clambering  over  the  fence,  instead  of 
coming  in  at  the  door.” 

“ I am  sorry  to  say  he  did ; for  he  kept 
possession  of  the  iron  pot  he  had  seized, 
in  the  first  instance,  and  carried  it  off  in 
triumph.” 

“ But  had  not  they  any  servants  in  the 


70 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


house  that  the  children  were  left  there  alone, 
with  their  mamma  ?” 

“ There  were  a few  native  girls  who  helped 
them  to  do  the  work  of  the  house,  but  direct- 
ly there  was  any  thing  to  be  seen  or  heard, 
they  went  away,  and  sometimes  even  when 
there  was  not.  How  would  you  like  it,  if 
when  it  w^as  time  to  lay  the  cloth  for  dinner, 
Sarah  wa^  to  go  out  and  bathe  in,  the  river, 
and  return  after  dinner,  and  lie  dowm  for  two 
or  three  hours ; you,  in  the  meantime,  being 
obliged  to  lay  the  cloth,  wait  upon  yourself, 
and  wash  up  all  the  plates  and  dishes  after- 
wards V’ 

“ Is  that  the  way  they  do  in  New  Zealand, 
mammal” 

“ That  is  the  account  a missionary’s  wife 
gives  of  her  servants.” 

This  cooled  Jane’s  ardour  for  going  to 
New  Zealand.  After  remaining  quiet  for  some 
time,  at  length  she  said,  “ Well  then,  mamma, 
I should  like  to  go  to  India,  as  a missionary ; 
there  are  plenty  of  servants  there!” 

“ Perhaps  there  may  be,”  said  her  mam- 
ma, “ but  then  there  are  other  inconve- 
niences to  be  borne  with  ; but  one  thing  I am 
sure  of,  that  wdien  you  are  grown  up,  you 
can  never  be  a useful  Christian,  much  less  a 
missionary,  until  you  have  learned  to  con- 
sider your  own  comfort  a secondary  object ; 
and  to  reflect,  not  what  you  like  best  your- 
self, but  how  you  can  do  that  which  is  most 
pleasing  to  God,  and  most  likely  to  do  good 
to  others.” 


THE  PANORAMA. 


71 


Jane  said  nothing  further,  but  she  did  not 
forget  when  she  went  to  bed  that  night,  to 
pray  to  God  to  make  her  think  less  of  herself, 
and  more  of  pleasing  Him,  and  doing  good 
to  others.  According  to  the  words  of  Christ. 
“ If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily, 
and  follow  me we  can  never  follow  Christ, 
or  be  really  Christians,  whilst  we  are  only 
intent  upon  pleasing  ourselves,  and  making 
ourselves  comfortaWe. 


LEANCx  AFA.' 

Opex  the  map  of  Asia,  and  you  will  there 
find  traced  the  vast  empire  of  China.  Its 
riches,  prosperity,  and  civilization,  equal  its 
extent;  it  has  fine  towns,  beautiful  gardens, 
and  well  cultivated  fields,  and  a population 
as  skilful  in  inventing,  and  as  eager  in  enjoy- 
ing the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life  as  our- 
selves.  It  has  existed  too,  from  very  remote 
times,  before  the  coming  of  our  Lord  upon 
earth,  and  when  England  and  the  rest  of 
Europe  were  covered  with  forests,  and  inha- 
bited by  barbarians,  the  Chinese  were,  what 
they  are  now,  a learned,  civilized,  and  po- 
lished people. 

Might  we  then  have  lived  as  well  and  as 
happily  had  we  been  born  natives  of  that  far 
distant  country,  as  we  may  in  our  own  land  ? 
No;  for  the  Chinese  know  not  God.  How- 
ever wise  or  clever  people  may  be,  they  know 
nothing  of  the  will  of  God,  unless  He  teaches 
them:  of  this,  the  Chinese,  as  well  as  the 
Egyptians,  Grecians,  Romans,  and  other  great 
nations  that  have  existed,  are  a striking 
12 


MISSIONARY  PREACHING. 


LEANG  AFA. 


73 


proof.  Notwithstanding  the  Chinese  are  a 
civilized  people,  and  have  been  such  for 
thousands  of  years,  they  are  plunged  in  the 
profoundest  ignorance  in  all  things  relating 
to  religion.  Not  only  are  their  idols  multi- 
plied through  the  land,  but  they  ofl'er  sacri- 
fices to  the  hills,  the  rivers,  and  the  winds, 
and  to  the  great  men  who  lived  in  former 
times,  the  principal  of  whom  is  a philosopher 
called  Confucius.  Does  a fire  happen  1 they 
attribute  it  to  an  evil  spirit;  a long  pole  is 
erected  in  a public  place,  and  adorned  w’ith 
lanterns;  it  is  visited  each  morning  wfith 
music,  and  the  people  bow  towards  it.  A 
theatrical  exhibition  is  then  appointed  in  the 
hope  of  appeasing  the  evil  spirit.  Does  an 
inundation  overspread  the  country,  destroy- 
ing the  grain,  and  reducing  multitudes  to 
famine?  “It  is  the  Dragon,”  say  the  Chi- 
nese, “moving  his  tail  under-ground,  and 
causing  the  water  to  come  up  !” 

But  let  not  my  little  reader  smile  at  this; 
we  should  have  been  as  foolish  and  ignorant 
as  they,  unless  it  had  pleased  the  Lord  to 
teach  us  better.  Perhaps  you  w'ill  ask.  Why 
do  we  not  send  missionaries  there?  The 
Chinese  will  not  allow  them  to  come;  they 
are  filled  with  a vain  idea  of  their  own  great- 
ness and  wisdom ; they  call  the  English,  and 
all  other  nations,  “ Outside  barbarians,”  and 
despise  every  people  on  earth,  except  them- 
selves. Some  few  years  ago,  the  King  o'f 
England  sent  an  ambassador  to  China,  with 
presents  for  the  Emperor.  As  the  ambassa- 
7 


74 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


dor  offended  the  Emperor,*  he  refused  to  re- 
ceive him,  and  wrote  a letter  to  the  king,  in 
which  he  told  him,  that  he  did  intend  to  have 
feasted  the  ambassador  in  the  hall  of  light  and 
splendour,”  and  in  the  “ garden  of  mutual 
pleasure;”  to  have  granted  him  leave  to  ram- 
ble among  the  “hills  of  ten  thousand  ages,” 
and  to  have  conferred  rewards  at  the  “Gate 
of  Concord ;”  but  “ in  consequence  of  this 
affront,  although  he  did  not  inflict  severe 
chastisement,  he  sent  them  away.”  It  cannot 
be  doubted  that  the  ambassador  was  wrong, 
for  he  said  he  was  ill,  I believe,  when  he  was 
not;  and  thus  had  a journey  of  so  many 
thousand  miles  in  vain.  The  letter,  however, 
goes  on,  after  mentioning  the  acceptance  of 
a few  presents,  to  inform  the  king  of  England  ■ 
of  the  Emperor’s  pleasure  in  the  following 
terms: — “The  celestial  empire,”  (by  which 
he  means  China,)  “does  not  value  things 
brought  from  a distance;  all  the  curious  and 
ingenious  productions  of  your  country,  it 
does  not  look  upon  as  rare  pearls.  There  is 
no  occasion  for  the  future  to  trouble  yourself 
to  send  an  ambasssador  so  far;  but  pour  out 
your  heart  in  dutiful  obedience,  and  for  ever 
obey  this.”  Simh  was  his  Majesty’s  mandate 
to  the  kina:  of  England!  but  if  tlie  self-conceit 
of  the  Chinese  lead  them  to  despise  the  “ out- 

* By  refusing  to  enter  the  Emperor's  presence  im- 
mediately on  his  arrival  from  a long  journey,  without 
having  had  time  allowed  him  even  to  change  his  dress. 
Lord  Amherst  was  the  ambassador. — See  Dr.  Morri- 
son's Memoirs. 


LEANS  AFA. 


75 


side  barbarians,”  they  equally  dislike  them: 
no  stranger  is  ever  allowed  to  go  to  any  Chi- 
nese town  except  Canton,  no  woman  is  per- 
mitted to  land  even  there;  and  the  Chinese 
government  absolutely  forbids  its  subjects  to 
teach  the  language  to  foreigners.  But  the 
written  Chinese  is  the  language  of  five 
nations ; the  language  of  300,000,000  of 
people  ! Whatever,  therefore,  may  be  the 
consequences,  the  difficulties,  or  dangers, 
attending  the  attempt,  it  has  been  the  earnest 
desire  of  Christians,  to  send  missionaries  to 
acquire  the  language,  and  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel in  it.  A missionary.  Dr.  Morrison,  passed 
nearly  all  his  life  there,  translating  the  Bible 
into  Chinese,  which  he  completed  before  his 
death.  The  Chinese  is  a language  very  diffi- 
cult to  learn,  as  it  contains  80,000  different 
characters.  The  translation  of  the  Bible  was 
the  great  work  of  Dr.  Morrison’s  life;  but 
both  he,  and  another  missionary,  Dr.  Milne, 
though  prohibited  from  preaching,  and  watch- 
ed and  suspected  on  every  side,  yet  found 
means  to  convey  instruction  to  a few  of  the 
people,  who  in  their  turn  became  persecuted, 
w'hen  their  knowledge  of  Christianity  was 
suspected.  Amongst  these  few  was  a Chi- 
nese, named  Leang  Afa. 

! Dr.  Morrison  lived  at  Canton;  but  although 
he  was  suflered  to  remain  there,  no  sooner 
did  Dr.  Milne  arrive  from  England,  than  he 

I was  immediately  ordered  to  leave  the  place ; 
he,  therefore,  went  to  Malacca,  a town  not 
very  far  distant,  where  he  occupied  himself 


76 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


ill  learning  Chinese,  and  in  printing  Dr.  Mor- 
rison’s Cliinese  translation  of’  the  Bible.  For 
ihis  purpose,  he  engaged  two  Chinese  printers, 
one  of  whom  was  Leang  Afa. 

l.,eang  Afa  was  an  idolater;  yet  he  does 
not  apjiear  to  have  been  entirely  thoughtless 
upon  the  subject  of  right  and  wrong,  good 
and  evil.  When  he  was  about  to  leave  Can- 
ton, whilst  sitting  alone,  waiting  for  the  time 
to  come  in  which  he  was  to  embark  on  board 
the  vessel  to  go  to  Malacca,  he  thought  to 
himself  that  this  change  of  situation  would 
be  a good  opportunity  for  altering  his  course 
of  life,  and  becoming  w’ise  and  virtuous ; 
“‘and  now',”  said  he  to  himself,  “w'hy  not 
give  up  my  w'orthless  friends,  cease  to  follow 
my  evil  practices,  and  become  a good  man'?” 
Then  he  reflected  with  regret  upon  the  folly 
and  w'ickedness  of  his  past  years,  and  the  age 
he  had  reached  w'ithout  having  made  any 
good  use  of  his  life.  It  would  be  well  for  us 
all  to  inquire  what  good  use  we  have  made 
of  past  time — particularly  those  who  are 
young.  Have  you  a little  garden  of  your 
own,  where  you  attend  to  your  own  plants, 
and  sow  your  ow'n  seeds  ? If  so,  you  know 
that  the  time  w'hich  is  lost  can  never  be  re- 
gained; if  you  sow  your  seeds  a month  later, 
they  will  come  up  a month  later : and  if  you 
let  all  the  pleasant  months  of  the  spring  go 
by,  and  do  not  sow  them  until  the  summer, 
they  will  not  come  up  until  the  autumn,  and 
then,  perhaps,  never  dower  at  all,  or  as  soon 
as  their  delicate  blossoms  appear,  they  will 


LEANG  AFA. 


77 


be  destroyed  by  the  cold  winds  and  rains  of 
the  coming  winter.  Just  so  it  is  in  our 
hearts;  the  time  wliich  is  lost  before  we  be- 
gin to  do  what  is  right,  can  never  be  re- 
gained; perhaps  you  think  all  time  that  is 
past  is  lost  to  us;  no,  if  it  has  been  well  em- 
ployed, it  is  not  lost,  although  we  shall  never 
see  it  again.  Look  at  the  pretty  plant  which 
was  set  in  the  garden  in  the  spring;  it  was 
very  little  then,  but  now  it  has  sent  forth 
shoots,  and  stems,  and  leaves,  and  has  grown 
large  and  handsome;  the  bright  summer 
months  are  past,  but  they  were  not  lost  to  it. 
God,  who  causes  the  sun  to  shine,  and  the 
rain  to  fall,  and  the  earth  to  bring  forth  herbs 
and  flowers,  can  alone  cause  holy  disposi- 
tions to  grow  in  our  hearts.  We  should, 
therefore,  look  to  Jesus,  and  endeavour  with 
his  help  to  follow  the  example  he  gave  us 
when  on  earth : — 

“ Like  him  may  we  be  found  below 
In  wisdom’s  paths  of  peace; 

Like  him  in  grace  and  knowledge  grow, 

As  years  and  strength  increase.” 

When  Leang  Afa  landed  at  Malacca,  he 
was  surrounded  by  people  whose  language 
he  did  not  understand.  “ I had  a mouth,” 
said  he,  “but  I could  not  speak;  I had  ears, 
but  I could  not  hear,  my  grief  was  extreme.” 
Being  thus  unable  to  join  in  the  society  of 
others,  he  had  full  leisure  to  consider  his 
good  resolutions,  and  to  put  them  into  prac- 
tice. But  he  did  not  find  this  possible.  He 
7 ^ 


78 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


prayed  to  gods  and  goddesses  of  every  de- 
scription, begging  them  to  send  him  peace 
and  great  prosperity.  Then  he  burnt  incense, 
and  made  ofierings  to  them.  The  Chinese 
burn  paper  before  their  gods,  with  gold  and 
silver  leaf  upon  it ; the  paper,  they  say,  is  to 
represent  clothes,  and  the  gold  and  silver 
leaf,  money;  all  which,  when  sent  up  in  flame, 
are  caught  by  surrounding  spirits. 

But,  perhaps,  you  wonder  how  it  was,  that  | 

the  missionary,  in  whose  house  Leang  Afa  | 

lived,  did  not  teach  him  better.  Alas ! he  | 
would  not  learn;  he  disliked  exceedingly  to  j 
hear  the  Bible  read,  and  to  worship  God,  and 
he  wished  to  hear  nothing  about  it. 

At  length  the  priest  of  one  of  the  false 
gods,  called  Budha,  came  to  visit  him;  and, 
glad  to  have  some  one  to  consult,  in  the  un- 
happy  state  of  his  mind,  Leang  Afa  readily 
entered  into  conversation  with  him,  respect- 
ing his  idol.  The  priest  assured  him,  that  if 
he  would  serve  Budha,  not  only  should  he 
obtain  pardon  for  his  own  sins,  but  those  of 
all  his  family  should  also  be  forgiven.  De-  i 
lighted  at  hearing  this,  Leang  Afa  eagerly  | 
inquired  how  Budha  was  to  be  served.  The  I 
priest  then  told  him,  that  daily,  morning  and  [ 
evening,  he  must  repeat  the  sacred  books, 
and  contribute  money  to  the  support  of  the 
idol.  Leang  Afa  then  inquired  if  it  would  be 
meritorious  to  burn  incense  to  Budha.  He 
was  assured  it  would.  The  priest  then  gave 
him  a book,  and  told  him  if  he  read  a single 
page,  he  would  reduce  a little  the  sins  of  i 


r 


LEANG  AFA. 


79 


his  former  state  of  being  in  this  world;  but 
that  if  he  would  recite  one  thousmid  million 
pages,  then  all  the  sins  of  his  former  state 
would  be  cancelled,  all  sufl’ering  in  his  pre- 
sent, prevented.  Poor  Leang  Afa!  joyfully 
did  he  commence  his  task;  evening  after 
evening,  and  evening  after  evening,  did  he  sit 
reciting  the  book.  When  we  hear  these 
things,  how  can  we  help  thinking  of  our 
Saviour’s  words,  when  he  said:  “When  ye 
pray,  use  not  vain  repetitions  as  the  heathen 
do:  for  they  think  that  they  shall  be  heard  for 
their  much  speaking.”  Leang  Afa  soon 
found  that  his  “ much  speaking”  brought  him 
neither  peace  nor  holiness  of  mind,  nor  a 
sense  of  the  pardon  he  desired ; and,  after 
many  wearisome  eflbrts,  he  discontinued. 
Still  he  feared  the  consequences  of  his  sins, 
and  he  was  determined  to  make  himself 
better.  He  did  not  know  that  without  the 
help  of  Christ,  he  had  no  power  to  do  so;  we 
cannot  make  ourselves  good,  any  more  than 
if  we  are  ill,  we  can  make  ourselves  well; 
but  as  diseases  cause  the  death  of  the  body, 
so  sin  causes  the  death  of  the  soul,  that  awful 
death  which  is  called  in  the  Revelation,  “the 
second  death.”  Tliis  is  the  reason  why  sin 
is  spoken  of  as  a disease,  in  the  Bible,  as  in 
Isaiah  i.  5,  0,  and  Christ  alone  is  the  physi- 
cian who  can  heal  us  of  this  disease. 

After  some  time  passed  in  the  manner 
which  I have  described,  it  pleased  the  Lord, 
to  incline  Afa’s  heart  to  seel:  his  Saviour;  by 
degrees  he  began  to  listen  to  the  instructions 


80 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


of  the  missionary,  and  to  read  the  Bible.  He 
became  convinced  of  his  utter  inability  to 
make  himself  good,  and  he  heard  with  ex- 
treme delight  of  the  atonement  which  Christ 
had  oflered  for  his  sins,  of  his  love  for  him, 
and  of  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by 
which  his  heart  might  be  changed  and  made 
better.  As  soon  as  Dr.  Milne  thought  him 
sufficiently  instructed  in  the  truth,  and  was 
persuaded,  so  far  as  man  can  know,  of  the 
sincerity  of  his  love  to  Christ,  he  baptized 
him,  and  with  much  joy,  as  he  was  the  first 
Chinese  whom  he  had  seen  become  a Chris- 
tian. 

For  four  years  Leang  Afa  continued  at 
Malacca  with  Dr.  Milne;  and  during  this 
time  he  seems  to  have  lived  peacefully  and 
happily.  At  length,  desiring  to  see  his  family 
and  friends  once  more,  he  returned  to  Can- 
ton. When  he  saw  them  all  given  to  idola- 
try, worshipping  gods  and  goddesses  who 
could  not  help  them,  and  burning  incense  to 
them,  as  he  formerly  did,  he  pitied  them,  and 
endeavoured  to  teach  them  better. 

In  China,  it  is  the  custom  to  endeavour  to 
instruct  others  by  writing,  rather  than  by 
speaking.  Accordingly,  Leang  Afa  wrote  a 
little  book  upon  the  way  of  salvation,  in  the 
Chinese  language,  and  was  going  to  print  it, 
when  suddenly  the  policemen  entered  his 
house,  carried  Afa  off  to  prison,  and  took 
the  books  and  blocks,  which  are  the  things 
used  for  printing,  to  the  public  courts,  where 
they  were  all  destroyed.  When  Dr.  Morri- 


LEANG  AFA. 


81 


son  heard  that  Afa  was  in  prison,  he  made 
great  efforts  to  get  him  released;  which  he  at 
last  effected,  by  the  payment  of  a sum  of 
money.  Before  the  magistrates  set  him  at 
liberty,  however,  they  caused  him  to  be 
beaten  dreadfully. 

It  is  against  the  law  in  China,  for  people 
to  be  instructed  in  Christianity.  Edicts  are 
constantly  published  in  the  Emperor’s  name, 
threatening  death,  imprisonment,  and  exile,  to 
any  who  shall  be  guilty  of  printing  Christian 
books,  and  teaching  or  baptizing  the  people. 
In  one  of  these,  the  Chinese  Emperor  says: 
“When  once  a notion  of  ascending  to  heaven 
enters  the  mind,  men  are  regardless  of  death.” 
That  is  true;  did  not  our  Saviour  say,  “Fear 
not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not 
able  to  kill  the  soul  ?”  Thus  thought  Leang 
Afa,  and  neither  punishment  nor  the  fear  of 
death  turned  away  his  heart  from  following 
Christ.  After  he  had  got  out  of  prison,  he 
went  to  Malacca,  to  Dr.  Milne,  with  whom 
he  remained  until  his  death,  after  which  he 
again  returned  to  Canton,  to  be  with  Dr. 
Morrison.  It  would  have  been  more  safe 
and  pleasant  for  Leang  Afa  to  remain  at  Ma- 
lacca; but  there  was  no  person  thei'e  to  in- 
struct him  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  so  he  boldly 
returned  to  Canton.  For  several  years  he 
studied  the  Scriptures  diligently,  for  it  was 
his  earnest  wish  to  be  himself  a minister  of 
the  gospel,  that  he  might  preach  it  to  his 
countrymen.  In  the  meanwhile,  he  did  not 
forget  his  own  family,  using  every  means  to 


82 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


jicrsuade  them  to  become  Christians.  His 
wife  was  taught  to  believe  in  Christ,  and  his 
little  childi’en  were  brought  up  in  the  fear  of 
his  name. 

After  Leang  Afa  was  ordained  to  be  a 
minister,  his  anxiety  and  earnestness  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  increased.  He  seems 
to  have  been  afraid  of  nothing,  but  distributed 
his  books  every  where,  and  taught  and  ex- 
horted the  people  on  all  occasions.  Such  a 
proceeding  did  not  long  escape  the  notice  of 
the  government,  and  once  moi’e  Afa  was 
seized  and  put  into  prison,  and  once  more  he 
was  set  at  liberty  by  means  of  the  English. 

And  where  is  Afa  now?  I cannot  tell 
whether  he  is  yet  alive,  but  I know  that 
nineteen  years  after  he  became  a Christian, 
he  still  lived,  an  anxious  and  devoted  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel  amongst  his  pagan  country- 
men. Lonn;  after  both  the  English  mission- 
aries,  by  whom  he  had  been  instructed, 
were  laid  in  their  graves,  in  that  far  distant 
land,  Leang  Afa  still  faithfully  persevered  in 
his  Christian  calling.  I know,  too,  that  he 
had  a little  son,  whose  name  was  Leang- 
tsin-tih,  which  means,  “entering  on  virtue:” 
this  little  son  was  baptized  a Christian,  and 
it  was  his  father’s  earnest  wish  that  he,  like 
himself,  should  live  to  preach  the  gospel 
amongst  the  Chinese.  Perhaps,  if  it  should 
please  God  to  grant  his  wish,  w’e  may  yet 
hear  of  Lean<r-tsin-tih. 

There  is  a prophecy  in  the  book  of  Isaiah, 
which  says,  ” Behold,  these  shall  come  from 


LEANG  AFA. 


83 


far ; and  lo,  these  from  the  north,  and  from 
the  west,  and  these  from  the  land  of  Sinim,” 
(Isaiah  xlix.  12.)  It  is  thought  that  Sinim 
here  is  another  name  for  China.  Doubtless 
the  time  will  come,  when  China,  now  shut 
out  from  all  the  rest  of  the  w'orld,  and  where 
the  foot  of  a stranger  is  scarcely  allowed  to 
tread,  will  listen  to  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel : for  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall  fill  the 
whole  world,  as  is  prophesied  in  Daniel  xi. 
44,  45,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 
Meanwhile,  blessed  are  they  who,  like  Leang 
Afa,  have  been  chosen  by  the  Lord,  to  spread 
amongst  their  heathen  countrymen,  the  first 
knowledge  of  those  good  tidings  of  great  joy 
which  shall  be  to  all  people  ; blessed  are  they 
in  the  midst  of  trouble,  danger,  and  persecu- 
tion, for  “ there  is  laid  up  for  them  a crown 
of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  right- 
eous Judge,  shall  give  them  at  that  day,  and 
not  unto  them  only,  but  unto  all  them  also 
that  love  his  appearing.” 


HEATHEN  SUPERSTITIONS. 


It  was  a rainy,  windy  evening,  late  in  au- 
tumn ; a sudden  gust,  which  howled  through 
the  old  elms  in  the  garden,  shook  the  window 
of  the  little  parlour,  bright  with  the  light  of 
fire  and  lamp,  where  Jane's  mamma  was  sit- 
ting at  a small  table,  busily  writing.  “ How 
high  the  wind  is,”  she  observed,  as  the  long 
deep  blast  died  mournfully  away  among  the 
trees;  but  as  no  one  replied,  she  looked  up 
and  saw  Jane’s  eyes  fixed  on  an  unsnuffed 
candle,  which  stood  near  her.  “ The  snuf- 
fers are  on  the  piano,  Jane,”  she  said,  and 
being  in  haste  to  finish  her  letter,  she  again 
looked  down  on  the  paper,  and  continued 
writing.  Jane  got  up  and  fetched  the  snuf- 
fers. Again,  there  ensued  a deep  silence, 
and  Jane’s  mamma,  thinking  her  little  girl 
might  be  afraid  of  the  storm,  which  had  now 
become  very  violent,  put  away  her  letter  and 
took  her  work,  with  the  intention  of  talking 
to  Jane  and  amusing  her. 

Jane  set  two  or  three  more  stitches,  in  her 
work,  but  every  now  and  then  she  cast  an 
anxious  and  half-frightened  glance  towards 


84 


HEATHEN  SUPERSTITIONS. 


85 


the  candle.  Her  mamma  thought  she  was 
looking  towards  the  window. 

“Are  you  afraid  of  the  wind,  Jane?” 

“No,  mamma,”  said  Jane,  with  a solemn 
countenance,  “it  is  not  the  wind.” 

“ J\'ot  the  wind  ! why,  what  is  it  then  ?” 

“ Now,  Jane  would  like  to  have  said.  Noth- 
ing, mamma ; but  she  had  been  taught  that 
to  reply,  “nothing  was  the  matter,”  when 
she  knew  that  there  was  something,  was  un- 
true, and,  therefore,  extremely  wrong.  In 
the  present  instance,  slie  had  a great  objec- 
tion to  tell  her  mamma  wliat  really  was  the 
matter,  and  so  she  did  not  know  what  answer 
to  make.  Her  mamma  was  obliged  to  ask 
again  and  again,  and  at  last,  she  pointed  to 
the  candle. 

“ Well,”  said  her  mamma,  “you  are  not 
afraid  of  the  candle  because  it  wants  snuffing, 
are  you  I” 

“ No,  not  for  that,'’’  said  Jane, 

“ Then,  for  irhot,  my  love? 

“ I would  rather  not  tell  you,  mamma.” 
Her  mamma,  however,  insisted  upon  know- 
ing, and  after  some  further  hesitation  and  re- 
luctance, Jane  pointed  out  what  she  called  a 
“winding-sheet”  in  the  candle. 

“ Am  I to  understand,  Jane,  that  you  think 
that  the  tallow  having  melted  in  that  manner 
from  the  candle,  is  a sign  that  either  you  or 
I are  going  to  die?” 

“ No,  mamma,  not  exactly,  only  that  I 
heard  Hannah  say,  that  there  was  a wind- 
ing-sheet in  your  rushlight,  every  night,  for 
8 


86 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


three  nights,  before  little  Eustace  died.”  And 
Jane  looked  as  if  she  thought  this  informa- 
tion would  produce  its  due  effect  upon  her 
mamma. 

“And  was  the  winding-sheet  in  the  rush- 
ligiit,  the  cause  that  we  lost  our  dear  little 
boy,  my  love  1” 

“ No,  not  the  cause,  mamma,  only  the  sign 
that  he  was  going  to  die.” 

“ Who  sent  the  sign,  my  dear  ? do  you 
think  that  it  was  God  1” 

“ Jane  could  not  say  that  she  thought  it 
was.” 

“ Then  what  could  it  have  to  do  with  his 
death  ?” 

“ But  people  do  believe  in  those  sort  of 
things,  mamma  V’ 

“ What  sort  of  things,  Jane?” 

“ Why  things  that  are  lucky  and  unlucky, 
and  good  and  bad,  without  any  particular 
reason.  Maria  has  got  a halfpenny  that  she 
takes  great  care  of,  and  has  kept  a long  time, 
because  it  has  a hole  in  it,  and  somebody 
told  her  it  would  make  her  lucky ; and,  mam- 
ma, I have  often  and  often  heard  people  say, 
that  Friday  is  a very  unlucky  day,  and  that 
if  you  begin  any  thing  on  that  day,  it  will 
not  succeed.” 

“ To  believe  those  sort  of  things,  my  dear, 
is  to  follow  the  example  of  the  heathen,  who 
believe  that  the  devil  has  a control  over  their 
affairs.  They  arc  all  heathen  superstitions. 
If  you  were  a little  older,  I could  explain 
to  you  how  they  originated,  especially  that 


HEATHEN  SUPERSTITIONS. 


87 


which  concerns  Friday.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  chance,  good  luck,  or  ill  luck.  Every 
thing  in  this  world  is  governed  by  God,  and 
it  is  very  wicked  to  ascribe  his  power  to 
any  thing  else;  it  is,  in  fact,  like  heathen 
idolatry.  When  our  ancestors  were  savages 
and  idolaters,  they  invented  many  of  those 
foolish  superstitions,  which  have  been  re- 
peated from  one  person  to  another,  even  until 
the  present  time ; but  it  is  excessively  wrong 
and  foolish  for  us,  who  are  Christians,  and 
who  know  that  every  thing  in  this  w^orld  is 
ordered  by  God,  to  listen  to  them  for  a mo- 
ment. I remember  an  anecdote  I once  read 
in  the  Journal  of  Mr.  Cooper,  who  was  mis- 
sionary at  'Severndroog,  in  India. 

“ A merchant  from  the  Bazaar,  a native 
Hindoo,  called  upon  him  one  day,  and  after 
they  had  talked  together  for  some  time,  Mr. 
Cooper  made  him  a present  of  one  of  the 
gospels,  and  he  took  his  leave.  Just  how- 
ever, as  he  wms  going  out,  Mr.  Cooper,  who 
happened  to  w’ant  his  servant,  rung  a small 
hand-bell,  which  lay  on  the  table.  Bells  are 
used  among  the  Hindoos,  almost  exclusively 
in  their  temples,  connected  with  some  act 
of  incantation  or  worship.  The  poor  Hin- 
doo, wdio  had  no  idea  of  the  meaning  of  the 
bell,  or  what  Mr.  Cooper  rung  it  for,  took 
it  into  his  head,  that  he  w’as  bewitched,  and 
that  his  having  received  the  book  from  Mr. 
Cooper,  under  such  circumstances,  w'ould  be 
productive  of  some  dreadful  evil.  He  went 
home  in  great  terror,  called  his  friends,  and 


88 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


told  them  what  had  liappened;  they  were 
all  equally  friglitened,  and  no  one  knew  what 
was  to  be  done — at  last,  after  some  conver- 
sation, they  agreed  to  go  to  a Hindoo,  who 
lived  with  Mr.  Cooper,  and  consult  with  him, 
as  being  more  likely  to  understand  English 
incantations,  and  the  means  of  averting  them, 
than  they  did.  Accordingly  to  this  servant 
they  went,  and  detailed  to  him  wdth  much 
solemnity  the  whole  affair.  He,  after  laugh- 
ing heartily  at  their  fears,  explained  the 
dreadful  mystery  of  the  ringing  of  the  bell, 
and  sent  them  away.” 

Jane  laughed  too,  and  said  she  thought 
they  were  very  silly. 

“ But,  Jane,  you  know,  we  expect  and  be- 
lieve, that  a time  will  come,  when  there  shall 
no  longer  be  any  heathen  in  India,  Avhen  ‘ the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  have  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Imrd,  and  of  his  Christ 
but  now,  suppose  when  that  glorious  time  is 
come,  and  the  Hindoos  shall  be  all  Christians, 
knowing  and  worshipping  the  true  God,  that 
some  people  should  still  have  a superstition, 
that  if  any  person  happened  to  hear  a bell 
ring,  at  the  time  a Bible  was  made  a present 
to  them,  it  was  very  unlucky,  and  foreboded 
some  evil  to  them  V’ 

“It  would  be  very  foolish,  mamma,”  said 
Jane. 

“ It  would  be  worse  than  very  foolish,  it 
would  be  very  wicked ; the  poor  ignorant 
Hindoo,  who  went  to  Mr.  Cooper,  might  be- 
lieve in  magic  and  enchantment,  but  Chris- 


HEATHEN  SUPERSTITIONS. 


89 


tians  ought  to  know  better,  and  do  know 
better,  if  they  understand  the  Bible.” 

“Did  those  things  come  from  India,  mam- 
ma, that  Mrs.  S showed  to  you  a little 

while  ago,  when  she  spent  the  day  here  ? I 
remember  she  said  that  the  natives  fancied, 
that  wearing  them  would  protect  them  from 
all  harm.” 

“No,  they  are  called  gregrees,  or  charms; 
they  are  brought  from  Africa.  The  Africans 
are  extremely  superstitious,  and  may  be  said 
to  live  in  constant  dread  of  the  devil,  who, 
they  say,  lives  in  ‘ the  bush,’  that  is,  the 
large  thick  woods  which  abound  in  their 
country,  and  often  surround  their  villages, 
and  they  are  constantly  afraid  that  he  will 
come  out  and  hurt  them.” 

For  the  sake  of  showing  the  Africans  their 
folly,  a missionary  once  obtained  a gregree, 
and  fixing  it  upon  a tree,  he  shot  at  it  ; the 
ball  went  right  through,  and  lodged  in  the 
tree.  ‘Now  look,’  said  he,  taking  it  down 
and  showing  the  great  hole  which  the  ball 
had  made,  ‘your  gregree  has  neither  been 
able  to  protect  itself  or  the  tree.’  ” 

“Well,  then,  mamma,  they  must  have  been 
quite  convinced,  it  was  of  no  use.” 

“Not  at  all,  Jane;  they  had  an  answer 
quite  ready:  ‘gregrees,’  they  said,  ‘were  no 
protection  against  white  man,  but  only  against 
black  man.'  ” 

“ But  could  not  they  have  shot  through  it 
themselves,  mamma'!” 

8* 


90 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


“Certainly;  but  they  did  not  choose  to 
try.” 

“I  heard  Maria  reading  to  you  something 
about  an  olfering  to  the  devil,  out  of  that  new 
book,  ‘A  Voyage  down  the  Gambia.’  Will 
you  tell  me  what  it  was  ?” 

“One  nio[ht,the  English  traveller  who  was 
sleeping  in  his  boat,  at  a little  distance  from 
the  shore,  was  awakened  by  the  dreadful 
howling  of  the  wild  beasts.  In  the  deep 
silence  of  the  night,  the  noiSe  sounded  very 
friglitful;  and  the  Englishman  lay  awake 
listening  to  it,  and  considering  how  very  nar- 
row the  river  was  across,  just  at  this  place, 
and  how  extremely  hungry  they  must  be  to 
howl  in  that  loud  and  ferocious  manner.  He 
called  a black  man,  who  was  in  the  boat 
with  him,  whose  looks,  when  he  came  near, 
showed  the  terror  which  he  felt.  The  Eng- 
lishman began  to  speak  to  him  about  it,  when 
he  found  out,  it  was  not  the  wild  beasts  he 
was  afraid  of,  but  the  devil,  who,  he  assured 
the  traveller,  remained  constantly  in  a part 
of  the  river  close  to  where  they  were.  The 
Englishman,  of  course,  smiled  at  his  fears; 
but  he  was  assured  that  no  one  passed  by 
there  without  giving  something  to  the  devil, 
in  order  that  they  might  be  safe  during  the 
remainder  of  the  voyage.  Sometimes  they 
throw  a few  leaves  of  tobacco  into  the  river, 
believing  that  he  picks  them  up  when  they 
have  passed.” 

“It  is  very  shocking,  mamma,  that  they 


HEATHEN  SUPERSTITIONS. 


91 


should  think  of  sucli  things.  But  there  are 
missionaries  in  Africa  now,  who  will  teach 
them  better,  will  they  not 

“We  trust  so,  my  dear;  for  the  poor  Afri- 
cans may  truly  be  said  to  be  in  bondage  to 
Satan.  But  the  number  of  missionaries  is 
far  too  small,  considering  the  vast  extent  of 
country,  and  the  thousands  of  jieople.” 

“ Then  why  do  not  more  go  V' 

“ Because  it  is  very  expensive,  and  they 
have  not  sufficient  money.  It  is  for  that  rea- 
son wm  subscribe  to  missionary  societies.” 

“ Do  any  other  people  wear  charms,  ex- 
cept the  Africans!” 

“ Yes,  the  Egyptians — particularly  against 
the  ‘ evil  eye.’  ” 

“ The  ‘evil  eye,’  mamma — wdiat  is  that  ?” 

“ Have  you  never  read  of  it  in  the  Bible !” 
“ No.” 

“Oh,  yes,  you  have;  only  you  forget  it,  or 
perhaps  did  not  pay  attention  to  what  you 
read.” 

Jane’s  mamma  took  her  little  Bible  out  of 
her  work  basket,  and  she  found  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  and,  giving  it  to 
Jane,  she  said,  “ Now  read  the  chapter  to 
yourself,  and  see  if  you  cannot  find  out  Avhat 
the  ‘evil  eye’  means.” 

Jane  read  the  chapter,  but  not  with  suffi- 
cient patience,  so  she  was  not  successful. 
Her  mamma  then  asked  her  the  meaning  of 
the  fifteenth  verse.  "■ 

“ The  Lord  of  the  vineyard  asking  the  men 
who  had  worked  for  him,  whether  they  were 


92 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


displeased  because  he  was  kind  to  their  fel- 
low labourers.” 

“To  be  displeased  because  others  are  pros- 
perous, is  to  be  envious;  ‘the  evil  eye’  means 
envy.  It  is  spoken  of  in  Prov.  xxviii.  22.” 

“ But  I do  not  see,”  said  Jane,  “why  peo- 
ple should  wear  charms  against  that.” 

“ Because  they  suppose,  that  if  one  person 
is  envious  of  another,  and  looks  at  him  with 
an  envious  eye,  he  does  him  an  injury.  Who 
do  you  think  is  the  person  injured  ?” 

“ No  one,  mamma.” 

“ Yes,  Jane,  the  person  who  indulges  in 
such  a sin,  does  an  injury,  not  to  the  person 
whom  he  envies,  but  to  himself.  Envy  is 
called  in  the  Bible,  ‘the  rottenness  of  the 
bones it  is  a great  sin  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  makes  the  person  who  commits  it  truly 
miserable,  as  indeed  all  sin  does,  more  or 
less.  But  it  is  a vain  superstition  to  suppose 
it  hurts  any  one  but  ourselves.” 

“Are  the  Egyptians  idolaters,  mamma,  like 
the  Africans,  and  do  they  wear  the  same  sort 
of  charms '!” 

“ The  Egyptians  are  Mahommedans.  They 
have  various  kinds  of  charms ; one  consists 
of  pieces  of  money  of  small  value,  called 
cowries,  which  they  hang  about  their  dress. 
I should  think  it  very  likely  that  the  super- 
stition concerning  lucky  halfpennies,  as  they 
are  called,  is  derived  from  this  custom.” 

“ I will  tell  Maria  what  you  have  said  to 
me,  mamma,  and  get  her  to  give  away  her 
halfpenny.” 


HEATHEN  SUPERSTITIONS.  ' 93 

“ I hope  you  will  profit  by  what  I have 
said,  yourself — that  you  will  compassionate 
the  ignorance  and  blindness  of  the  heathen, 
and  consider  yourself  bound  all  your  life  to 
give  your  prayers  and  your  help,  if  it  be  but 
a mite,  towards  their  instruction ; and  I hope 
our  conversation  will  assist  in  enabling  you, 
with  the  help  of  God,  to  remember  that 
great  lesson  for  which  you  have  need,  every 
day,  every  hour  of  your  life,  which  is,  that 
every  thing,  however  trilling,  is  ordered  and 
governed  by  God. 

Jane  looked  at  a pretty  nosegay  of  late 
autumn  llow'ers,  which  stood  upon  the  table. 
“ Yes,  mamma,”  she  said,  “w'hen  I brought 
you  in  that  nosegay  out  of  the  garden  this 
morning,  you  reminded  me  of  the  text,  in 
which  Jesus  says,  ‘consider  the  lilies,’  and 
you  told  me  that  our  Saviour  teaches  us  to 
look  at  the  beautiful  flowers,  and  remember 
that  it  is  God  who  hath  made  them  so  lovely, 
and  that  we  are  far  more  precious  in  his  sight 
than  they  are,  and  that  he  will  take  infinitely 
more  care  of  us.” 

“And  he  does  take  care  of  us,  my  chikl. 
AVhen  I was  a little  girl  I knew  nothing  of 
the  love  of  Christ  towards  his  people ; I did 
not  think  of  him,  as  the  shepherd  of  his 
flock,  who  carries  the  young  lambs  in  his 
bosom.  But  I had  heard  of  angels,  and  I 
used  to  wish  I had  one  of  those  glorious 
beings  always  by  my  side,  to  tell  me  what  was 
right,  and  to  warn  me  when  I was  going  to 
do  wrong ; but  the  presence  of  Christ  is  far. 


94 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


far  more  than  this  to  his  people.  His  word 
and  his  Spirit  teach  us  what  is  pleasing  to 
him;  and  the  constant  remembrance  of  his 
presence,  is  the  greatest  encouragement  and 
consolation  they  can  have,  for  they  know 
that  he  is  all-powerful  to  protect  them,  and 
if  they  could  ever  be  tempted  to  fear  that 
he  does  not  notice  the  little  trials  of  their 
daily  life,  they  may  answer  their  anxious 
hearts,  and  set  to  rest  their  unbelieving 
thoughts,  with  their  Saviour’s  most  gracious 
and  blessed  words,  ‘even  the  very  hairs  ot 
your  head  are  all  numbered.’  ” 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


I 


I THINK  I see  a little  family  party,  sitting 
round  the  fireside  on  a cold  winter’s  night : 
the  trees  are  all  bare  of  leaves,  and  the 
ground  is  covered  with  snow ; dark  thick 
clouds  shut  out  the  light  of  the  moon  and 
stars,  the  wind  blows  loud,  and  the  storm  of 
mingled  sleet  and  rain,  rattles  against  the 
window  panes ; but  are  they  the  less  cheer- 
ful ? No  ; nor  is  there  any  reason  why  they 
should  be,  except  when  they  think  of  those 
who  may  be  less  happy  than  themselves;  of 
the  sailor,  the  traveller,  and  the  houseless 
beggar,  exposed  to  all  the  fury  of  the  tempest; 
but  it  does  not  hurt  them;  under  the  shelter 
of  their  happy  and  comfortable  home,  what 
need  they  care  for  the  wind,  the  snow,  or  the 
rain  ? 

My  little  children,  doubtless,  you  remem- 
ber many  such  an  evening ; then  understand, 
such  is  the  situation  in  this  world,  of  those 
who  love  God,  and  are  His  servants;  they 
enjoy  in  their  own  hearts,  a peace,  a hap- 
piness, a comfort,  which  nothing  that  hap- 

95 


96 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


pens  to  them  can  deprive  them  of,  any  more 
than  the  storms  and  winds  of  winter  can, 
make  you  unhappy  when  you  sit  by  your 
own  cheerful  fireside,  in  your  own  dear 
home. 

I am  going  to  give  you  some  account  of  a 
person  who  was  very  happy,  although  he 
had  scarcely  any  thing  in  this  world  to  make 
him  so,  except  this  peace  of  God  ; but  that 
you  may  understand  that  portion  of  his  life 
which  I am  going  to  relate  to  you,  I must 
first  give  you  some  account  of  himself,  and 
the  people  amongst  whom  he  lived. 

In  the  south  of  France,  among  the  moun- 
tains of  the  High  Alps,  there  live  a race  of 
Christian  people  ; they  have  been  Christians 
from  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity,  and 
being  persecuted  on  account  of  their  religion, 
they  fled  to  the  mountains  to  be  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  wicked  men,  who  wished  either 
to  destroy  them,  or  oblige  them  to  give  up 
the  worship  of  God.  They  however  refused, 
they  would  not  give  up  their  Bibles;  they 
would  not  cease  to  servm  God.  They  had 
left  their  homes  in  the  pleasant  and  sunny 
valleys,  and  gone  to  live  among  the  solitudes 
of  the  Alps,  where  they  were  surrounded  by 
ice  and  snow,  nearly  all  the  year,  and  were 
scarcely  able  to  find  food  to  eat,  or  to  build 
huts  to  shelter  themselves.  Even  to  this 
miserable  place  their  enemies  followed  them  ; 
burnt  their  cottages,  murdered  their  children, 
and  tried  all  means  to  destroy  every  human 
being  belonging  to  them.  But  it  was  not  the 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


97 


will  of  God  that  it  should  be  so ; when  their 
persecutors  came,  the  ('hristians  buried  their 
Bibles  in  the  ground,  and  hid  therriselves  and 
their  children  in  the  caves  among  the  rocks; 
and  as  soon  as  they  w’ere  gone,  (for  it  did  not 
suit  them  to  remain  long  in  that  frozen  and 
desolated  region)  the  people  came  out  again, 
and  returned  to  their  villages.  These  things 
happened  about  six  hundred  years  ago,  and 
fi'om  that  time,  almost  until  the  present,  their 
descendants  have  lived  in  the  same  place, 
sometimes  left  in  peace,  and  sometimes  en- 
during the  most  frightful  sufferings,  y/hen 
their  cruel  enemies  surmounted  the  preci- 
pices of  ice,  and  mountains  of  snow,  amongst 
which  they  had  contrived  to  conceal  their 
dwellings.  Yet,  though  the  Christians  con- 
tinued faithful,  as  they  were  allowed  no  min- 
ister to  instruct  them,  they  became  in  the 
process  of  time  extremely  ignorant,  and  knew 
but  little  of  that  Saviour,  for  whose  sake, 
their  ancestors  had  been  willing  to  give  up 
their  lives.  Their  churches,  all  but  one,  had 
been  destroyed,  and  their  teachers  removed; 
yet  still  they  met  together  sometimes  to 
pray  and  read  the  Bible,  and  when  at  last, 
after  many  hundred  years,  it  pleased  God, 
once  more  to  send  them  a minister,  they  re- 
ceived him  with  great  joy  and  gladness : 
the  name  of  this  minister  was  Felix  Neff. 
He  was  greatly  beloved  among  them,  and 
God  blessed  his  labours,  for  every  year  dur- 
ing the  short  time  he  lived,  the  people  in- 
creased in  knowledge,  in  faith,  and  in  love 
9 


98 


MISSIONARY  TALESt 


towards  their  Saviour.  Grateful,  indeed, 
they  were  to  their  good,  kind  pastor,  who 
had  left  his  own  country  to  live  amongst 
them,  and  teach  them  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  i 
Nor  were  they  ever  weary  of  listening  to  < 
him ; often  and  often,  after  a day  of  liard  la- 
bour, would  tliey  assemble  together  in  a barn 
or  stable,  to  listen  to  his  instructions.  These  i 
people  were  poor,  and  could  hardly  earn 
themselves  food,  much  less  luxuries,  and  | 
their  beloved  pastor  lived  as  they  did,  shar-  | 
ing  their  coarse  meals  and  humble  lodging,  j 
At  their  evening  meetings,  a table  and  a ' 
chair  were  placed  for  him,  and  the  rest  of  : 
the  people  sat  round  on  forms  placed  before  ! 
the  mangers  of  the  cattle.  One  or  two  i 
lamps  hung  by  a string,  lighted  the  place, 
and  there  they  sat  during  the  long  winter 
evenings,  the  women  knitting  and  listening 
to  the  words  of  their  dear  minister,  and  all 
joining  in  prayers,  and  hymns  of  joy,  praise, 
and  thanksgiving  to  God.  So  much  was  he 
beloved,  that  when  he  was  expected  any 
where,  the  children  were  stationed  on  the 
high  places  of  the  mountains,  to  watch  till  he 
came  in  sight,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  per- 
ceived, a large  company  of  the  villagers  de- 
scended the  rocks  to  meet  him.  Now  you 
must  understand,  that  this  was  attended  with 
great  fatigue  and  danger,  so  their  pastor  used 
to  beckon  to  them  to  remain  where  they 
were,  until  he  came  up  to  them.  “No,” 
said  they,  “ it  is  not  often  we  have  the  en- 
joyment of  walking  with  you,  and  we  value 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


99 


it  too  much  to  lose  it.”  Then  they  talked 
together  on  the  way  back,  about  the  kingdom 
of  God,  according  as  we  are  commanded  to 
do  in  the  Bible,  for  it  is  written,  “ and  these 
words  that  I command  thee  shall  be  in  thy 
heart,  and  thou  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou 
sittest  in  thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest 
by  the  way.” 

I have  told  you  that  the  people  were  very 
ignorant ; they  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
nor  even  speak  with  correctness ; their  pastor 
felt  that  the  intense  cold  and  other  hardships 
to  which  he  was  exposed,  and  to  which  he 
was  not  accustomed,  as  they  were,  nor  able 
to  bear,  would  soon  occasion  his  death ; and 
then  he  grieved  to  think  there  would  no  lon- 
ger be  any  one  to  teach  his  poor  Alpines,  so 
he  thought  of  the  plan  of  forming  a winter 
school,  assembling  the  cleverest  and  most  in- 
dustrious of  the  young  people,  and  devoting 
the  winter  to  their  instruction,  hoping  that 
they  would  be  thus  enabled  to  teach  the 
others  when  he  was  gone. 

During  the  long  winters  among  those 
mountains,  people  cannot  go  out  of  doors  to 
their  work,  they  cannot  even  travel  from  one 
village  to  another,  but  are  obliged  to  remain 
in  their  own,  shut  up  amidst  ice  and  snow, 
and  having  scarcely  any  daylight,  and  long, 
long  nights.  Neft'  having  assembled  his  small 
party,  fixed  his  residence  for  the  winter  at 
one  of  the  villages,  the  highest  among  the 
mountains,  called  Dormilleuse.  He  next  laid 


100 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


up  a store  of  food  for  the  winter,  which  con- 
sisted of  salted  meat  and  rye  bread ; our 
bread,  you  know,  is  baked  every  day,  and  is 
always  soft  and  nice,  but  the  corn  of  which 
it  is  made  will  not  grow  in  that  cold  place, 
and  they  are  obliged  to  have  rye  bread, 
which  is  black  and  hard,  because  the  rye 
will  not  keep  like  the  corn,  but  must  be  used 
directly  it  is  ripe,  so  that  all  their  bread  is 
baked  in  the  autumn  to  last  through  the 
winter,  and  becomes  so  hard  that  it  is  obliged 
to  be  chopped  up  with  a hatchet  when  it  is 
eaten.  Such  was  their  food  ; as  for  their 
lodging,  it  was  not  more  agreeable ; Neff 
tells  us,  that  his  school  was  sometimes  kept 
in  a stable,  and  they  had  great  difficulty  to 
prevent  the  kids  and  fowls  from  tearing  the 
copy  books  to  pieces.  He  did  not  think  of 
his  own  comfort,  but  only  of  the  good  he 
could  do  to  others;  his  living  in  such  a place, 
was  just  as  if  your  minister  should  go  and 
live  in  some  damp  and  dirty  cottage  amongst 
the  poor  people  all  the  winter,  that  he  might 
have  an  opportunity  of  instructing  them ; 
where  Neff  lived,  they  were  all  poor  people 
and  no  rich  ones,  and  he  went  there  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  teaching  them,  in  order 
that  they  might  become  better  and  happier. 

The  hrst  thing  Neff  did,  was  to  construct  a 
room  where  he  might  be  out  of  the  noise  of 
the  cattle,  and  the  interruptions  of  the  chick- 
ens. This  being  done  with  much  labour  and 
fatigue,  he  began  the  kind  occupation  of 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


101 


teaching  those  who  lie  hoped  might  be  able 
to  instruct  others,  when  he  should  be  dead. 
There  are  some  little  children  who  hate  the 
sight  of  a book,  and  always  cry  over  their 
lessons;  but  if  you  wish  to  be  useful  when 
you  grow  up,  you  must  not  be  ignorant.  A 
great  many  of  the  dowers  in  our  gardens 
once  grew  wild  in  the  fields  and  under  the 
hedges ; but  when  they  were  taken  from 
thence,  and  planted  in  the  garden,  watered, 
cultivated,  and  attended  to,  then  they  became 
much  more  beautiful.  What  child  would  not 
rather  have  a bunch  of  double  garden  violets, 
than  the  pale  and  scentless  ones  which  she 
finds  in  the  lanes  '?  And  would  there  not  be 
great  surprise,  if  a little  girl  brought  home  a 
nosegay  of  sweet  peas,  red  roses,  and  jessa- 
mine, which  she  found  growing  wild  in  the 
: hedges'?  Yes,  for  these  dowsers  only  grow 

with  care  and  cultivation.  So  it  is  with  you; 
and  if  you  would  wish  to  be  a garden  fiower, 
instead  of  a field  one,  you  must  cultivate  your 
mind,  and  try  to  learn  every  thing  that  is  ne- 
cessary and  good  for  you  to  know. 

Nefl’was  a truly  faithful  minister  of  Christ, 
He  loved  him,  with  all  his  heart,  and  thought 
nothing  worth  knowing  or  loving  in  compari- 
son with  him;  yet  you  see  he  was  anxious  to 
instruct  these  people,  for  he  knew  that  with- 
out knowledge  they  could  not  be  useful  to 
others.  They  divided  the  day  into  three 
parts ; the  first,  from  sunrise  to  eleven,  when 
they  breakfasted;  the  second,  from  noon  to 
sunset,  when  they  supped ; the  third,  from 
9 * 


102 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


sunset  till  ten  or  eleven  o’clock  at  night; 
making  altogether,  fifteen  hours  out  of  the 
twenty-four.  First,  they  had  to  learn  the 
language,  for  they  spoke  a dialect  which  was 
dilhcuU  to  be  understood.  It  was  a far  harder 
task  to  them  to  learn,  than  it  is  to  you;  but 
so  anxious  were  they  to  be  useful,  that  they 
submitted  to  it  with  pleasure.  They  were  so 
very  ignorant,  that  it  was  extremely  dillicult 
for  them  to  comprehend  the  simplest  things 
they  were  taught.  They  had  to  learn  gram- 
mar, but  they  did  not  know  what  nouns, 
verbs,  or  adjectives  meant;  and  their  patient 
and  gentle  teacher  was  a long  time  before  he 
could  make  them  understand.  They  had 
words  to  learn  to  spell,  with  meanings  to 
them,  like  you  have,  but  they  did  not  under- 
stand either  words  or  meanings,  and  so  he 
had  to  invent  others,  which  might  be  more 
easy  to  them. 

These,  as  being  their  most  difficult  studies, 
formed  their  mornings’  occupation.  After 
dinner,  they  studied  geography.^  They  were 
much  delighted  with  the  sight  of  maps,  which 
were  quite  new  to  them.  Their  good  pastor 
also  told  them,  that  the  eartli  was  round- 
described  to  them  how  it  moved  round  the 
sun,  and  was  itself  a beautiful  star  to  the 
other  stars;  for  when  the  sun  shines  upon  our 
earth,  it  would  appear  to  tlie  inhabitants  of 
the  moon,  it  there  are  any,  like  a magnificent 
moon  thirteen  times  larger  than  our  own.  It 
was  rather  difficult  tor  Netl  to  exjilain  these 
things  to  the  Alpines.  He  had  no  globes, 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


103 


such  as  we  have ; so  instead  of  them,  he 
made  use  of  balls  of  wood,  and  of  large  po- 
tatoes, hollowed  out,  with  a candle  to  repre- 
sent the  sun.  He  then  taught  them  what  a 
large  place  the  world  is,  and  of  how  many 
diflerent  nations  it  is  composed;  how  few  of 
them  are  Christians,  and  spoke  to  them  of  the 
missionaries  who  w'ent  forth  to  teach  the 
heathen.  Now,  these  people  were,  as  I have 
told  you  before,  very  poor;  but  when  they 
heard  these  things,  they  determined  to  sub- 
scribe, if  it  were  ever  so  little,  to  help  the 
missionaries;  and  they  soon  had  a missionary 
society  of  their  own.  It  w'as  but  a little  they 
could  give,  but  that  does  not  matter:  Christ 
said  that  a cup  of  cold  water,  which  was 
given  in  his  name,  that  is,  out  of  love  to  him, 
shall  be  blessed  to  the  person  who  gives  it. 

When  they  had  learned  to  read,  they  could 
not  afford  to  buy  books,  so  they  agreed  to- 
gether to  go  w'ithout  some  things  which  were 
necessary  to  them,  (for  as  to  luxuries  they 
had  none,)  in  order  to  lay  by  a little  money. 
One  family  gave  up  their  pig,  another  went 
without  salt;  and  thus,  in  time,  they  were 
able  to  purchase  books. 

Lessons  in  music  formed  their  evenings’ 
amusement.  “But,”  says  my  little  reader, 
“what  did  they  want  to  learn  music  for  ?” 
They  wanted  to  learn  it  for  a purpose,  for 
which  it  is  truly  valuable,  to  sing  the  praises 
of  God:  and  often  did  the  hymn  of  joy  and 
praise  sound  cheerfully  in  that  little  dw'elling, 
amidst  the  midnight  solitudes  of  the  mighty 


101 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


Alps,  And  were  they  not  happy?  Yes,  my 
little  friends,  indeed  they  were.  The  active, 
useful,  and  industrious  life  of  those  who  love 
and  serve  God,  must  be  happy,  wherever  and 
in  whatever  occupations  it  is  passed.  You 
I'emember  what  I said  to  you  at  the  beginning 
of  this  story.  Those  who  have  peace  within, 
in  their  own  hearts,  need  not  be  afraid  of 
difficulties  or  troubles  without. 

Thus  the  winter  passed  away;  and  when 
the  opening  spring  summoned  them  again  to 
their  field  labours,  the  pastor  had  the  happi- 
ness of  finding  that  the  laborious  months  he 
had  passed  in  that  dreary  and  desolate  vil- 
lage, cut  otf  by  winter  barriers  of  ice  and 
snow  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  had  not 
been  spent  in  vain.  Two  young  women  had 
learned  sutficient  to  be  able  to  assist  in  a 
Sunday  School,  which  was  established  in 
their  village.  And  when  the  other  young 
people,  who  had  been  collected  by  Neff  from 
the  ditferent  villages  among  the  mountains, 
returned  to  their  homes,  several  of*  them,  un- 
der his  direction,  established  Sunday  Schools. 
Anxious  to  consecrate  their  knowledge  to 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  their  fel- 
low-creatures, they  occupied  themselves  in 
endeavouring  to  communicate  to  others  the 
instructions  they  themselves  had  received, 
and,  above  all,  the  precious  knowledge  of 
their  Saviour. 

Thus  was  the  winter  school  at  Dormil- 
leuse  blessed,  not  only  to  themselves,  but  to 
the  many  hundreds  whom  they,  in  their  turn. 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


105 


taught.  You  see  what  a good  purpose  they 
put  their  knowledge  to  ! The  object  of  every 
thing  we  learn  in  this  world  ought  to  be,  to 
make  us  useful  in  some  manner  or  another. 
If  I asked  you,  which  were  the  most  indus- 
trious among  insects,  I dare  say  you  would 
tell  me  the  ant,  or  the  “little  busy  bee;”  but 
why  do  we  admire  them  so  much  ? the  birds, 
the  flies,  the  spiders,  all  find  their  own  food, 
and  provide  for  themselves  from  day  to  day. 
“Ah,”  but  you  say,  “the  ant  and  the  bee 
lay  up  food  in  store  for  the  long  cold  win- 
ter!”  Yes,  but  there  is  also  another  reason 
why  we  should  admire  them — they  help  one 
another!  A little  girl  was  once  watching  a 
path  in  the  garden,  where  a number  of  ants 
lived.  She  saw  one  of  them  trying  to  drag 
something  to  the  opening  which  led  to  their 
nest ; upon  looking  closer,  she  saw  it  was 
the  dead  body  of  an  earwig ; but  it  was  too 
heavy  for  him — he  could  not  manage  it ; so 
he  went  and  fetched  another  ant,  and  to- 
gether they  dragged  the  earwig  to  the  hole, 
and  threw  it  down.  Down  ran  the  first  ant 
after  it,  and  his  companion  who  had  helped 
him  went  away.  Independently  of  the  kind- 
ness of  the  one  ant  in  helping  the  other,  you 
do  not  suppose  that  the  ant  who  carried 
down  the  earwig,  wished  to  eat  it  all  him- 
self? No;  he  intended,  no  doubt  to  add  it  t(> 
the  common  store.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  bee,  who  is  about  all  day  gathering 
honey — she  carries  it  home  to  the  rest  in  the 
hive.  When  you  hear  of  the  prudent  ant, 


106 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


and  little  busy  bee,  I hope  you  will  remem- 
ber, it  is  our  duty  to  be  industrious  for  others 
as  well  as  for  ourselves,  and  that  others 
ought  to  be  benefitted  by  all  the  knowledge 
which  we  possess.  Such  is  the  law  of  Christ; 
it  is  written,  “ Look  not  every  man  on  his 
own  things,  but  every  man  also  on  the  things 
of  others.” 

The  time  was  now  come  when  this  little 
company  were  obliged  to  part,  and  very 
sorry  they  were : nor  were  the  inhabitants 
of  Dormilleuse,  the  village  where  they  had 
been  staying,  less  sorry  to  part  wdth  them. 
They  would  no  longer  be  able  to  worship 
God  with  them,  or  listen  to  their  sweet  even- 
ing hymns,  cheering  their  dreary  mountains ; 
the  beloved  and  welcome  guests  were  all 
about  to  take  their  departure.  On  the  even- 
ing before  they  went,  the  people  of  the  village 
prepared  a farewell  supper.  It  was  very 
simple;  a chamois,  a marmot,  a bear’s  ham, 
formed  all  the  delicacies  which  could  be  con- 
tributed in  honour  of  the  last  evening.  But 
it  is  said  in  the  book  of  Proverbs,  “Better  is 
a dinner  of  herbs  where  love  is,  than  a 
stalled  ox  and  hatred  therewith ;”  and  there 
was  plenty  of  love  among  this  humble  cir- 
cle. One  of  tbe  party  remarked,  that  their 
meeting  was  indeed  a delightful  one,  but  it 
was  not  likely  they  would  ever  all  assemble 
together  again.  Their  pastor  heard  the  re- 
mark, and  he  took  occasion  to  remind  them, 
that  though  they  should  never  see  each  other 
again  in  this  world,  if  they  loved  the  Lord 


THE  ALPINE  SCHOOL. 


107 


Jesus  Christ,  and  continued  faithful  In  his 
service,  they  would  be  sure  to  meet  again 
in  His  glorious  mansions  in  heaven.  He 
then  gave  them  his  parting  blessing,  and  af- 
ter many  kind  and  affectionate  good-byes, 
they  all  separated.  Early  next  morning  they 
began  to  descend  the  mountains,  and  each 
took  his  way  to  his  own  home ; there  always 
to  use,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  for  the  benefit  of 
others,  the  knowledge  and  instruction  which 
the  devoted  zeal  of  Neff  had  imparted  to 
them. 


JERUSALEM. 


“ Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  ji 
whole  earth  is  Mount  Zion,  on  the  sides  of  jl 
the  north,  the  city  of  the  great  king thus 
spoke  king  David,  in  describing  his  beloved 
city.  .Jeremiah  tells  us,  it  was  called  “ the  'p 
perfection  of  beauty.”  “Put  on  thy  beau-  1- 
tiful  garments,  O Jerusalem,  the  holy  city,”  f 
saith  the  prophet  Isaiah.  In  the  time  of  cap-  l-i 
tivity,  sutiering,  and  sorrow,  the  eyes  of  the  |i 
Jews  turned  ever  towards  this  fair  city,  in 
whose  temple  the  Lord  had  condescended,  |. 
“to  put  his  name,”  and  where  the  shining  ' 
cloud  wJiich  betokened  His  presence  had  ap- 
peared. No  doubt  you  have  read  of  the  per- 
secution endured  by  Daniel,  because  he  re-  i 
fused  to  leave  off  praying  to  God ; and  do 
you  not  remember  that  on  those  occasions, 
when  he  prayed,  the  windows  of  his  cham- 
Ixjr  were  open  towards  Jerusalem'?  During 
the  time  of  their  long  captivity  in  Babylon, 
the  Jews  never  forgot  their  beautiful  coun- 
try, but  alwa}^s  looked  forward  with  delight 
to  the  time,  when  God  should  suffer  them  to 
108 


JERUSALEM. 


109 


return  to  it.  Among  the  Psalms  there  is 
one,  which  describes  how  they  used  to  sit 
down  by  the  rivers  of  Babylon  and  weep, 
when  they  thought  of  Jerusalem,  from  which 
they  were  so  far  distant ; it  is  Psalm  cxxxvii; 
if  you  read  it,  you  will  see  how  much  they 
loved  their  own  city.  But,  alas ! of  that 
Jerusalem  “ not  one  stone  remains  standing 
upon  another every  building  has  been 
thrown  down,  and  the  foundations  even 
ploughed  up,  and  the  land  is  lying,  as  God 
declared  it  should,  for  many  ages,  barren  and 
desolate.  Some  hundred  years  after  the  tak- 
ing of  Jerusalem,  a very  great  but  wicked 
prince,*  who  knew  the  prophecies  concern- 
ing the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  thought 
he  would  prove  they  w^ere  wrong,  by  causing 
it  to  be  rebuilt  by  the  Jews ; and  he,  there- 
fore, being  a mighty  and  powerful  sovereign, 
made  many  attempts,  to  fulfil  his  impious 
wishes:  but  they  were  all  of  course  utterly 
vain,  for  how  can  man  act  contrary  to  the 
will  of  God?  and  if  God  has  declared  that  a 
thing  shall  not  be,  is  it  for  a contemptible 
creature  like  man,  to  say  it  shall?  Every 
trial  they  made  vras  defeated  ; sometimes  in 
one  way  and  sometimes  in  another.  Upon 
one  occasion,  terrible  balls  of  fire,  burst  out 
of  the  earth,  destroying  and  dispersing  the 
workmen. 

But  why  have  all  the  calamities,  which  the 
Jews  have  endured,  for  more  than  eighteen 


* Julian  the  Apostate. 

10 


110 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


hundred  years,  and  are  still  enduring  even  i 
now,  fallen  upon  them  ? Because  they  re- 
jected Christ,  disobeyed  God,  and  drew  down 
upon  themselves  his  anger. 

After  the  lapse  of  many  years,  God  per- 
mitted a town  to  be  built  near  where  Jeru- 
salem stood.  It  was  called  by  the  same  name, 
but  it  was  neither  built  nor  inhabited  by  the 
Jews ; the  few  who  do  live  there,  have  al- 
ways been  exposed  to  greater  tyranny  and 
oppression,  than  any  where  else  ; for  the  city 
is  possessed  by  the  followers  of  the  false 
prophet  ^Mahomet,  who  hate  the  Jews  with 
a peculiar  hatred,  call  them  “ Jew  dogs,”  and 
Treat  them  with  every  sort  of  cruelty  and  in- 
justice. Some  Iijiighsh  and  Ameiican  mis- 
sionaries have  gone  to  Jerusalem,  and  have 
c^iven  a very  sad  account  ot  the  sufferings  ot 
fhe  Jews  there;  fulfdling  exactly  the  pro- 
jdiecy  of  Moses,  Deut.  xxviii.  33.  “ The  fruit 
of  thy  land,  and  all  thy  labours,  shall  a na- 
tion which  thou  knowest  not,  eat  up;  and 
thou  shalt  be  only  oppressed,  and  crushed 
alway.”  and  they  are  indeed  crushed;  so 
much  so,  that  Jerusalem  has  been  called  the 
“ prison  house”  of  the  Jews.  Sometimes 
ihev  are  stopped  in  the  streets  and  kicked, 
and  beaten  by  the  Turks;  it  the  Turks  hap- 
pen to  want  the  mules  they  are  riding  on, 
they  take  them  away : once  a Jew,  a friend 
of  an  English  missionary,  as  he  was  on  his 
way  to  see  him,  was  seized  by  some  Turkish 
soldiers,  who  were  going  to  yoke  him  and 
another  Jew  to  some  heavy  cannons  they 


JERUSALEM. 


Ill 


were  drawing  towards  Bethlehem,  but  he 
contrived  to  escape. 

It  is  said  in  the  prophecy  of  Moses,  which 
I have  before  spoken  of,  that  when  all  these 
things  came  upon  the  Jews,  men  should  re- 
member that  it  was  for  their  disobedience, 
and  should  say,  “because  they  have  for- 
saken the  covenant  of  the  liOrd  God  of  their 
fathers,  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled 
against  this  land,  to  bring  upon  it  all  the 
curses  that  are  written  in  this  book : and  the 
Lord  rooted  them  out  of  their  land  in  anger, 
and  in  wrath,  and  in  great  indignation,  and 
cast  them  into  another  land,  as  it  is  this 
day.” 

Are  you  sure  that  you  are  really  a Chris- 
tian, and  the  obedient  child  of  God  ? If  not, 
a destruction  as  dreadful  as  that  which  fell 
upon  the  Jews,  is  hanging  over  you.  Sup- 
pose you  lived  in  a splendid  house,  filled 
with  all  sorts  of  magnificence,  and  that  you 
had  every  thing  which  riches  can  procure,  or 
the  world  can  give,  to  make  you  satisfied, 
except,  that  in  one  corner  of  your  house, 
there  dwelt  a fierce  enemy,  who  might  rise 
up  any  moment  and  destroy  you ; could 
you  be  happy  I No;  you  would  forget  all 
your  pleasures,  all  your-  enjoyments,  and 
think  of  nothing  but  the  possibility  of  being 
instantly  destroyed.  Such  an  enemy  is  sin  : 
if  your  sin  is  not  forgiven  by  God,  for  Christ’s 
sake,  and  taken  away,  it  will,  one  day,  de- 
stroy you.  Sin,  is  called  in  the  Bible,  dis- 
ease, because  it  causes  the  death  of  the  soul. 


112 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


as  diseases  cause  the  death  of  the  body.  But 
are  we  as  anxious  to  get  rid  of  it,  as  you 
would  be  to  get  your  enemy  out  of  your 
house  I No ; we  are  occupied  with  other 
things,  and  it  lies  concealed,  without  our 
knowing  or  caring  any  thing  at  all  about  it ; 
yet  this  is  a very  sad  and  dangerous  state  to 
be  in,  for  sudden  destruction  may  come  upon 
us  any  moment. 

To  give  you  a better  idea  of  the  present 
situation  of  the  Jews,  in  Jerusalem,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  treated,  I will  re- 
late you  a story,  extracted  from  the  letters  of 
an  English  clergyman,  the  Rev.  W.  Lewis, 
who  resided  there  some  time. 

There  was  a Rabbi,  of  the  name  of  Men- 
del, who  lived  at  Jerusalem ; he  was  a mild 
and  quiet  old  man;  very  learned,  and  high 
in  rank  amonst  the  Jews  there.  One  night 
after  he  was  gone  to  bed,  he  heard  a loud 
knocking  outside  his  room  door.  As  it  was 
very  late,  he  thought  it  must  be  some  thieves 
who  had  broken  into  the  house,  so  he  lay 
still  and  listened.  Presently,  the  door  was 
burst  open,  and  in  rushed  a large  party  of 
soldiers.  They  ran  up  to  the  bed,  seized 
tlie  Rabbi,  and  began  to  ill-treat  him.  The 
poor  old  man  in  vain  demanded  the  cause  of 
this  outrage,  for  they  could  not  understand 
his  language,  nor  was  he  able  to  speak 
theirs,  which  was  Arabic.  The  rest  of  the 
family,  however,  roused  by  the  disturbance, 
were  soon  collected  in  his  room,  and  a young 
Jew,  amongst  them,  being  able  to  speak 


JERUSALEM. 


113 


Arabic,  managed  to  ascertain  what  was  the 
reason  of  this  uproar.  And  what  do  you 
think  it  was  ? The  street  door  had  been  left 
open!  The  soldiers  then  took  the  young 
man,  who  could  speak  Arabic,  and  conducted 
him  to  their  governor,  who  was  waiting  in 
the  passage  below.  The  governor  demanded 
of  him  why  the  door  was  left  open  ? The 
young  man  replied,  that  they  had  had  com- 
pany, and  he  supposed  that  one  of  the  visiters 
had  gone  out,  and  forgotten  to  shut  the  outer 
door.  With  this  account  the  governor  of 
the  soldiers  seemed  satisfied,  and  they  all 
went  away  and  left  the  unfortunate  Jews  to 
go  to  bed  again.” 

“ In  that  country,  when  the  street  door  is 
left  open  at  night,  people  are  made  to  pay  a 
few  pence  as  a fine,  and  this  the  Rabbi  ex- 
pected to  be  obliged  to  do.  Instead  of  this, 
however,  next  morning,  the  soldiers  again 
appeared,  and  taking  both  the  Rabbi  and 
the  young  man,  set  off  with  them  for  the 
palace.  On  their  way,  they  were  joined  by 
two  other  Jews,  also  under  a guard  of  soldiers, 
charged  with  the  same  crime,  that  of  leaving 
their  outer  door  open ; but,  in  this  case,  the 
accusation  was  untrue. 

“When  they  were  brought  before  the 
governor,  they  attempted  to  make  a defence, 
but  in  vain.  The  governor  declared  that  he 
heard  the  old  Rabbi  Mendel  say,  that  he  had 
a firman,  (a  written  protection  from  the  Sul- 
tan,) and  was  not  afraid  of  the  governor. 
Upon  this,  he  was  assured  that  the  Rabbi 
10* 


114 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


, could  not  speak  one  word  of  Arabic.  In- 
stead of  being  ashamed  of  the  falsehood  he 
had  invented,  he  flew  into  a violent  passion, 
and  asked  whether  they  meant  to  charge  him 
with  telling  a lie  I Certainly  they  did,  but 
they  did  not  dare  say  so.  They  were, there- 
fore, obliged  to  be  silent ; and,  after  a short 
time,  were  desired  to  go  away.  This  they 
were  glad  enough  to  do,  and  lost  no  time  in 
complying  with  the  command.  But  alas ! 
they  soon  found  they  were  not  to  be  permitted 
to  go  home,  but  were  led  into  another  room, 
and  ordered  from  one  chamber  to  another, 
until  they  found  themselves  at  one  of  the 
dungeons.  Here  they  were  shut  up  in  dark- 
ness, and  told  that  they  must  pay  the  govern- 
or ten  purses,  a very  large  sum  of  money; 
and  that  unless  the  money  was  forthcoming 
immediately,  or  on  the  next  day,  hot  irons 
should  be  applied  to  their  heads,  and  sharp 
nails  driven  through  the  palms  of  their  hands, 
a wicked  manner  of  torturing  the  Jews, 
which  was  often  used  by  the  Turks,  when 
they  wanted  to  get  money  from  them. 

“ The  other  Jews  in  the  city  soon  heard 
of  the  distressed  state  of  their  imprisoned 
brethren:  but  what  could  they  do?  They 
were  poor  themselves;  and  even  if  they  all 
joined  together,  they  could  not  have  paid  the 
immense  sum  of  money  winch  was  demand- 
ed ; still  they  could  not  leave  their  friends  to 
sufl’er  such  dreadful  torture.  They  went  to  the 
governor,  and  succeeded  in  persuading  him 
to  take  four  purses  and  a half,  much  less  than 


JERUSALEM. 


115 


he  had  at  first  asked,  but  still  a large  sum 
for  them  to  pay,  equal  to  £60*  of  our  money; 
and  to  collect  it,  some  of  them  were  obliged 
even  to  sell  their  clothes.  As  soon  as  they 
got  enough,  they  brought  it  to  the  wicked 
governor,  and  the  four  prisoners  who  had 
Ijeen  so  unjustly  confined  wei'e  set  at  liberty, 
and  allowed  to  return  to  their  own  homes.’’ 

Such  is  the  manner  in  which  the  Jews  are 
treated  at  Jerusalem.  It  is  the  fulfilment  of 
the  word  which  God  spake  by  Moses,  that 
if  they  rebelled  against  him,  they  should  be 
“only  oppressed,  and  crushed  alway:”  so 
that  they  may  indeed  say,  in  the  words  of 
the  prophet,  “our  holy  and  beautiful  house, 
where  our  fathers  praised  thee,  is  burned  up 
with  fire,  and  all  our  pleasant  things  are  laid 
waste.” 

There  is  a lesson  which  we  should  learn 
from  the  affliction  which  has  fallen  upon 
them  ; and  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Romans, 
Paul,  after  speaking  of  what  happened  to 
them,  tells  us,  “not  to  be  high  minded  but 
fear,  and  that  if  God  spared  not  them,  his 
own  people,  neither  will  he  spare  us.” 

We  should  remember  that  although  all 
these  punishments  have  fallen  upon  them, 
we  may  be  equally  guilty.  There  was  once 
a tower  in  Siloam,  in  the  land  of  Judea, 
which  fell  to  the  ground  and  crushed  eighteen 
people  in  its  ruins.  This  happened  during 
the  time  our  Saviour  was  upon  earth,  and  in 


* About  two  hundred  and  seventy  dollars. 


il6 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


speaking  of  it,  he  asked  the  people,  if  they 
thought  these  eighteen  people  were  greater 
sinners  than  others.  He  then  told  them  thev 
were  not,  liut  unless  they  repented,  tliey  also 
should  perish.  Neither  must  wo  think  that 
the  Jews  are  greater  sinners  than  ourselves, 
or  that  the  wrath  of  God  will  not  equally  fall 
upon  us  if  we  are  disobedient  to  him,  and  re- 
ject the  grace  of  Christ. 

The  day  will  come  wdien  the  Jews  shall 
return  to  their  own  country,  for  God  has  de- 
clared that  such  is  his  purpose  concerning 
them.  It  is  written  in  the  Bible,  and  the  pro- 
phecy will  surely  be  fulfilled;  “At  the  same 
time,  saith  the  Lord,  will  I he  the  God  of  all 
the'  families  of  Israel,  and  they  shall  be  my 

people There  is  hope  in  thine  end,  that 

thy  children  shall  come  again  to  thine  own 

border And  I will  cause  the  captivity  of 

Judah,  and  the  captivdty  of  Israel  to  return, 

and  I will  build  them  as  at  the  first Thus 

saith  the  Lord ; Again,  there  shall  be  heard 
in  this  place,  which  ye  say  shall  be  desolate, 
without  man  and  without  beast,  even  in  the 
cities  of  Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusa- 
lem, that  are  desolate,  without  man  and 
without  inhabitant,  and  without  beast,  the 
voice  of  joy,  and  the  voice  of  gladness,  the 
voice  of  the  bridegroom,  and  the  voice  of  the 
bride,  the  voice  of  them  that  shall  say.  Praise 
the  Lord  of  Hosts:  for  the  Lord  is  good;  for 
his  mercy  endureth  for  ever;  and  of  them 
that  shall  bring  the  sacrifice  into  the  house 
of  the  Lord.  For  1 will  cause  to  return  the 


JEEUSALEM. 


117 


captivity  of  the  land,  as  at  the  first,  saith  the 
Lord.”  “And  I will  bring  again  the  capti- 
vity of  my  people  Israel,  and  they  shall  build 
the  waste  cities,  and  inhabit  them.”  These 
are  two  or  three  of  the  many  glorious  pro- 
mises contained  in  the  Bible,  ot  the  future 
restoration  of  the  children  ot  Israel.  It  is 
God  only  who  can  and  will  effect  this ; but 
we  should  pray  for  them,  and  send  mission- 
aries to  teach  them  of  Christ.  They  are  our 
brethren  in  a peculiar  sense;  it  is  written, 
“ the  law  shall  go  forth  out  of  Zion,  and  the 
word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem.”  And  the 
word  of  the  Lord  did  come  forth  from  Jeru- 
salem ; it  was  in  Jerusalem  that  our  Saviour 
lived  and  died  for  us;  it  was  from  thence  that 
his  disciples  carried  the  good  news  to  the 
other  parts  of  the  world.  Jerusalem  is  no 
more;  but  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  the  little  brook  Cedron,  are 
all  in,  or  near  the  place  where  once  it  stood  : 
and  though  not  “one  stone  remains  standing 
upon  another,”  of  all  its  once  splendid  build- 
ings, yet  a few  aged  olives  are  left  to  mark 
the  place  where  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
once  was,  and  the  brook  Cedron  still  flows  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountains.  Whether  we  think 
of  what  Jerusalem  was,  in  past  times,  or 
what  it  shall  be  hereafter,  it  is  a spot  which 
Christians  as  well  as  Jews  have  reason  to 
love. 

But  have  we  not  a Jerusalem  of  our  own  t 
Yes,  a city  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God; 
and  to  which  no  earthly  Jerusalem,  however 


113 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


beautiful,  can  be  compared.  This  is  the  city 
described  by  the  apostle,  when  he  said,  “ he 
(that  is,  the  angel,)  carried  me  away  in  the 
spirit  to  a great  and  high  mountain,  and 
showed  me  that  great  city,  the  holy  Jerusa- 
lem, descending  out  of  heaven  from  God, 
having  the  glory  of  God ; and  her  light  was 
like  mito  a stone  most  precious,  even  like  a 
jasper  stone,  clear  as  crystal.” 

This  is  the  city  which  Jesus  spoke  of  when 
he  said,  “In  my  Father’s  house  are  many 
mansions.  I go  to  prepare  a place  for  you. 
But  who  shall  enter  into  that  city?  those  who 
are  the  children  of  God,  his  servants  who 
serve  him:  none  others.  There  are  manj 
parables  in  which  our  vSaviour  speaks  of  en- 
tering into  the  kingdom  ol  God,  and  he  al- 
ivavs  speaks  of  those  who  are  not  really  his 
people,  but  only  so  in  name  and  appearance, 
as  beinci:  “shut  out,  in  outer  darkness,  and 
askino-  him  for  admittance  hr  vain.  “And 
there °shali  in  no  wise  enter  into  it,  any  thing 
that  defdeth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh 
abomination,  or  maketh  a lie:  but  they^which 
are  written  in  the  Lamb  s book  of  life. 

Jerusalem  ! thou  blessed  place, 

How  full  of  glory,  full  of  grace! 

Far,  far  beyond  the  starry  skies. 

Thy  golden  battlements  arise. 

Jerusalem!  thy  colours  glow 
Fairer  than  the  heavenly  bow. 

Sapphire,  topaz,  emerald  bright, 

In  glittering  radiance  all  unite. 


JERUSALEM. 


119 


Can  you  not  add  the  two  next  lines  of  that 
beautiful  little  hymn,  and  say, 

Jerusalem  ! I long  to  see, 

And  live  a happy  child  in  thee ! 

But  remember,  it  is  only  if  you  are  a 
Christian,  that  you  can  look  forward  to  that 
glorious  place  as  your  eternal  home.  The 
apostle  who  saw  the  vision  of  tlie  Holy  City, 
saw  also  its  happy  inhabitants,  and  the  angel 
told  him,  they  were  those  “who  had  washed 
their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb.” 

Happy  indeed  are  all  they  who  shall  enter 
into  that  city!  “For  the  Lamb  which  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and 
shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of 
waters;  and  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes.” 


LITTLE  ELLINOR’S  PRAYER. 


It  was  a beautiful  evening  in  spring,  when 
Aunt  Mary,  who  had  gone  up  stairs  to  put 
little  Ellinor  to  bed,  stood  tor  a few  minutes 
at  the  open  window,  to  give  one  more  look 
at  the  distant  hills,  and  to  hear  one  nnore 
soncT  from  the  birds,  betore  she  closed  it  loi 
the^'night.  “Lift  me  up  aunt,”  said  little 
Ellinor,  “that  I may  see  too!”  So  Aunt 
Mary  lifted  little  Ellinor  up,  and  set  her  upon 
the  table.  The  sun  was  setting  in  the  mist, 
and  a soft  hazy  light  was  spread  over  the 
landscape.  The  garden  was  completely  in 
shade,  except  where  one  slanting  ray  ol  light 
rested  on  the  upper  branches  ot  the  pear  tree, 
which  were  covered  with  white  blossoms, 
and  the  air  felt  soft  and  fresh,  as  it  does  on  a 
line  evening  in  spring.  Aunt  Mary  looked 
out  of  the  window  for  some  time,  and  then 
she  said,  “Ellinor,  I am  thinking  ol  a verse 
of  the  hymn  you  learnt  this  moining. 

“ Oh  God,  how  good,  beyond  compare, 

If  thus  thy  lower  works  are  fair ! 

If  thus  thy  bounties  gild  the  span, 

Of  ruined  earth,  and  tallen  man , 

How  glorious  shall  that  rriansion  be 
Where  thy  redeemed  shall  dwell  with  thee. 

120 


LITTLE  ELLINOR  S PEAYER- 


121 


“I  know  what  you  mean,  aunt,”  said  El- 
linor;  “you  mean,  that  if  this  world  is  so 
beautiful,  what  will  heaven  be  !” 

“Yes,  love;  and  in  heaven  there  is  neither 
sin,  nor  sorrow;  every  glorious  being  there 
loves  God,  and  is  perfectly  happy.  But  there 
will  come  a time,  when  this  world  shall  be 
very  different  from  what  it  is  now — when 
there  shall  be  no  heathen  and  no  idols,  hut 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  know  the 
true  God,  and  serve  him  only.” 

Little  Ellinor  was  born  in  India,  and  lived 
there  for  the  first  years  of  her  life;  and  though 
she  had  been  some  time  in  England,  she  had 
only  just  come  to  live  with  Aunt  Mary. 
Aunt  Mary  loved  her  little  niece,  and  tried 
to  make  her  happy;  but,  above  all,  she  was 
anxious  that  she  should  learn  to  love  and  to 
serve  God.  She  had  taught  her  that  pretty 
little  hymn,  which  says — 

I was  not  born  as  thousands  are, 

Wliere  God  was  never  known, 

And  taught  to  pray  a useless  prayer, 

To  blocks  of  wood  and  stone. 

And  she  now  explained  to  her  what  the  idols 
of  the  heathen  were.  When  her  aunt  had 
done  speaking,  Ellinor  said,  “Do  any  of  the 
people  here  worship  idols  V’ 

“Oh,  no,”  said  her  aunt;  “not  here,  but  in 
distant  places — such  as  Africa  and  India.” 
“Aunt,”  said  Ellinor,  with  a thoughtful 
countenance,  and  looking  up  earnestly  in  her 
aunt’s  face,  “ does  my  papa  worship  idols  f” 
11 


122 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


“ No,  my  dear,  not  your  papa,  but  the  na- 
tives; can  you  recollect  when  you  were  in 
India,  haviinj;  a native  woman  to  nurse  and 
take  care  of  you  ? 

“ Oh,  yes,”  said  Ellinor,  “ and  I loved  her 
very  dearly;  does  she  w'orship  idols? 

“ I am  not  sure,  but  I think  it  is  most 
probable,  if  she  is  a native,  that  she  does.” 

“ Oh,  then,  I hope  some  missionary  will  go 
and  teach  her  better — are  clergymen  mis- 
sionaries, aunt  ?” 

“Yes,”  said  her  aunt,  “who  did  not  quite 
understand  the  meaning  of  this  question.” 

“ Then  take  me  to-morrow  to  Mr.  S , 

that  I may  ask  him  to  go  and  teach  my  poor 
Ayah,"  (child's  nurse.) 

“ Oh,  but  Mr.  S — is  not  a missionary.” 

It  w'as  getting  late,  so  aunt  Mary  shut  the 
window ; and  she  sat  down  upon  the  bed, 
and  took  Ellinor  on  her  lap,  and  she  said, 

“ My  darling  cliild,  if  you  wish  your  nurse 
to  be  taught  about  God,  and  become  a Chris- 
tian, I will  tell  you  what  to  do. 

Pray  to  God,  he  can  make  your  poor 
Ayah  a Christian,  and  send  a missionary  to 
instruct  her.” 

Then  aunt  Mary  repeated  some  of  the 
promises  there  are  in  the  Bible,  that  God 
will  answer  prayer : Ellinor  listened  very 
attentively,  and  when  she  knelt  down  to 
pray,  she  asked  God  to  grant  that  her  Ayah 
might  become  a Christian. 

Whilst  she  was  being  undressed,  she  went 
on  talking  to  her  aunt  about  the  idols  of  the 


LITTLE  ELLINOR’s  PRAYER. 


123 


heathen,  and  begging  that  she  would  tell 
her  more  about  them.  So  when  she  was  in 
bed,  her  aunt  sat  down  by  her,  and  tried  to 
make  her  understand  what  a dreadful  thing 
idolatry  is,  and  what  reason  we  have  to  be 
thankful  tliat  we  have  been  taught  better: 
and  she  told  her  that  we  ought  to  pray  for 
the  missionaries,  and  do  all  we  can  towards 
helping  them  to  go. 

“ So  I will,”  said  Ellinor,  “ when  I grow 
up  to  be  a woman.” 

“ But  why  not  now  ?”  said  her  aunt. 

“ Oh,  because  I can’t ; I have  not  any 
money,  you  know.” 

“ Indeed ! why  I thought  you  showed  me 
several  shiHin^s  in  a little  box.” 

O 

“ Oh,  yes ; but  if  1 were  to  give  them  all, 
it  would  be  no  good ; they  are  not  enough.” 

“ You  could  give  sufficient  to  do  some  good, 
without  giving  them  all : but  I will  explain 
this  to  you,  in  giving  you  an  account  of  an 
Hindoo  idol  called  Juggernaut.  This  idol  is 
a block  of  wood,  having  a frightful  face  paint- 
ed black,  with  a great  red  mouth ; he  is  one 
of  the  principal  idols  in  India ; he  has  a 
splendid  temple,  and  in  the  month  of  June, 
there  is  a festival  held  in  his  honour.  At 
this  time  the  idol  is  taken  out  of  his  temple, 
and  placed  on  a car,  or  tower,  higher  than  a 
house,  and  drawn  along  on  huge  wheels, 
large  in  proportion.  It  is  attended  by  thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  people,  whose  shouts 
and  yells  resemble  thunder,  on  account  of 
the  immense  multitude.  Dreadful  to  relate. 


124 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


it  is  thought  that  the  idol  is  pleased  with 
human  blood,  and  one  or  two  people  lie 
down  before  it,  as  it  is  coming  along,  to  be 
crushed  to  death.  As  soon  as  the  wheel 
passes  over  them,  the  people  around,  set  up  a 
shout  of  joy.  I could  tell  you  many  other 
terrible  tilings  about  it,  but  it  would  only 
frighten  you,  and  now,  how  do  you  think  this 
idol,  on  his  great  tower,  is  moved  along  ?” 

“ On  wheels,  did’nt  you  say,”  said  Elli- 
nor. 

“ Yes,  but  the  wheels  will  not  move  of 
themselves,  you  know,  they  must  be  drawm 
along.” 

Ellinor  supposed  then  it  must  be  dragged 
on  by  elephants. 

“ No,”  said  her  aunt ; “ six  very  thick, 
strong  robes,  of  a great  length,  are  tied  to 
it,  by  wdiich  the  people  themselves  draw  it 
along : men,  women,  and  children,  all  help, 
and  even  little  children,  almost  babies,  are 
made  to  put  their  hands  on  the  rope,  and 
assist.  Now,  not  the  strongest  man  in  all 
the  world,  could  move  the  great  tower  of 
that  frightful  idol,  no,  not  an  incli ; but  a 
number  of  people  draw  it  along  easily,  and 
even  little  children  can,  and  du  help.  Just 
in  the  same  way  that  they  can  help  in  a bad 
cause,  they  can  help  in  a good  one ; as  a 
number  of  people  together,  each  exerting 
the  little  strength  they  possess,  can  move 
that  great  tower,  so  a number  of  people  to- 
gether, each  giving  a little  money,  can  sub- 
scribe enough  to  send  out  missionaries  to  all 


LITTLE  ELLINOr’s  PRAYER. 


125 


parts  of  the  world ; but  this  is  done  not  by 
one,  or  two,  or  twenty,  or  a hundred,  or  even 
a thousand  rich  people,  who  each  give  a 
large  sum;  but  by  many  thousands  of  peo- 
ple, including  rich  and  poor,  and  even  little 
children,  who  each  give  a very  small  sum. 
Do  you  understand  me.” 

Ellinor  thought  she  did.  “ Suppose  the 
gardener  had  left  the  roller  in  a walk  where 
you  wished  to  play,  you  could  not  move  it, 
could  you  ?” 

“No,”  said  Ellinor. 

“Then  what  would  you  do?” 

“ I should  call  Nora,  and  Bertha,  and 
Maria  to  help;  that’s  just  what  we  did  to- 
day.” 

“Yes,  I saw  you;  but  what  would  you 
have  said  if  Maria  had  told  you,  it  was  of 
no  use  for  her  to  come,  as  she  could  not 
move  the  roller  ?” 

“ I should  have  said,  she  could  help.” 

“ And  so  I say  to  you,  every  person  who 
gives  even  a penny  to  a missionary  society, 
helps. 

“ But,  my  dear  child,”  said  her  aunt, 
“what  I have  said  to  you,  only  relates  to 
giving  money,  which  it  is  certainly  our  duty 
to  do  according  to  our  means.  But  all  the 
money  in  the  world  is  of  no  use,  without  the 
blessing  of  God ; the  best  assistance,  there- 
fore, that  we  can  render  to  the  missionaries, 
is  to  pray  for  them.” 

“ But  do  not  they  pray  for  themselves  ?” 

, “Yes;  but  it  is  equally  our  duty  to  pray 
11  * 


126 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


for  them.  Paul,  who  was  a great  apostle, 
tells  the  Christians  to  pray  for  him,  that  God 
would  enable  him  to  ])reach  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen.  VV'hen  you  pray,  you  ask  God 
to  bless  your  papa,  and  all  your  friends,  and 
yourself;  but  we  are  told,  in  the  Bible,  we 
should  pray  for  other  people  besides  our- 
selves, and  those  whom  we  love.  We  ought 
to  care  for  all  people,  and  desire  their  good; 
and  if  we  really  desire  it,  of  course  we  shall 
])ray  for  it.  I could  tell  you  many  stories 
from  the  Bible,  as  examples  of  this : of  good 
men,  who  prayed  to  God  for  other  persons, 
who  were  not  their  friends,  and  felt  an  inter- 
est for  them,  and  wished  for  their  happiness. 
There  is  notliina;  selfish  in  the  relision  of 
Christ;  it  leaches  us  not  to  think  of  ourselves, 
but  of  others,  and  to  desire  the. welfare  of 
others  as  much  as  our  own.  If  you  love 
Christ  you  must  love  your  fellow-creatures, 
and  try  to  make  them  hapjiy,  and  be  of  use 
to  them.” 

“ I will  pray  for  the  missionaries,  aunt,” 
said  Ellinor,  “and  I will  give  a penny  a 
week,  like  little  Ann  did,  to  the  missionary 
box;  but  how  can  I make  any  body  happy?” 

“ I must  remind  you,”  said  her  aunt,  “that 
you  can  do  nothing  without  the  help  and 
blessing  of  God  ; but  he  has  commanded  you 
to  be  kind  to  others,  and  you  must  pray  to  him 
for  the  grace  to  be  so.  I will  engage,  that 
during  the  course  of  the  day,  to-morrow,  you 
will  find  plenty  of  opportunities.” 

“ Tlien  Aunt  INIary  kissed  her  little  girl,  and 


LITTLE  ELLINOR’s  PRAYER 


127 


having  tucked  her  up  comfortably,  she  took, 
her  candle  and  went  down  stairs.  Ellinor 
shut  her  eyes,  thinking  how  kind  she  was 
going  to  be  to  every  body  to-morrow,  and 
soon  was  fast  asleep.” 

Ellinor  was  much  younger  than  any  ol 
her  cousins,  so  she  slept  in  a little  cot,  in  her 
aunt’s  bed-room.  While  she  was  getting 
dressed  next  morning,  her  aunt  reminded  her 
of  the  conversation  they  had  had  togethei  the 
evening  before;  and  when  Ellinor  piaj/cd,  she 
did  not  forget  the  missionaries  and  the  hea- 
then, nor  her  own  intentions  ol  being  kind  to 
those  at  home.  The  morning  passed  otf  very 
well — Ellinor  was  in  a very  good  humour 
with  herself,  and  did  every  thing  that  was 
kind  and  obliging  to  her  cousins.  The  les- 
sons  were  all  finished,  except  the  leading,  and 
she  brought  her  book  and  sat  down  by  her 
aunt  to  read,  with  a smiling  countenance. 
It  however  unfortunately  happened,  that  she 
mistook  two  long  old-fashioned  ss  s for  fl’s, 
and,  in  consequence,  instead  of  the  word 
“ Russians,”  she  said  “ Ruffians  ;”  at  which 
ridiculous  mistake,  Maria,  who  was  sitting 
by,  was  much  amused.  Now  Ellinor  could 
not  bear  to  be  laughed  at— nothing  made  her 
more  angry,  and  all  her  good  humour  vanish- 
ed with  Maria’s  smiles.  She  read  very  badly, 
because  she  was  thinking  how  wu'ong  it  was 
in  Maria  to  behave  to  her  in  that  manner. 
Her  aunt  was  displeased  with  her  inattention, 
and  Ellinor  got  more  and  more  cross;  at 
last,  she  began  to  be  oi  opinion  that  the 


128 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


author  had  put  all  the  hard  words  he  could 
possibly  think  of,  into  that  very  chapter,  on 
purpose  to  teaze  her,  and  by  the  time  she  had 
finished,  she  was  completely  out  of  temper 
with  herself,  and  every  body  else.  The  little 
girls  w'ent  out  for  a walk,  but  Ellinor  had 
scarcely  any  thing  to  say.  After  dinner, 
they  each  went  to  their  several  amusements. 
Maria  wanted  Ellinor  to  play  with  her,  but 
she  was  busy  reading.  A little  while  after, 
Bertha  asked  her  to  hold  a skein  of  silk, 
while  she  wound  it;  but  she  had  her  lessons 
to  learn  for  to-morrow,  so  she  took  out  her 
books,  opened  them  before  her,  and  looked 
out  of  the  window.  So  matters  went  on,  all 
the  afternoon  and  evening,  until  they  ended 
in  a serious  quarrel  between  Bertha  and  El- 
linor, on  account  of  Bertha’s  having  taken 
possession  of  the  chair  while  she  was  out  of 
the  room,  which  quarrel  displeased  her  aunt 
so  much,  that  she  gave  both  the  little  girls 
some  work,  and  made  them  sit  quiet  for  the 
rest  of  the  evening. 

Ellinor  having  thus  had  an  opportunity  for 
reflection,  felt  both  ashamed  and  sorry,  and 
when  bed-time  came,  she  kissed  her  cousins 
wdth  many  tears,  and  mutual  requests  for 
forgiveness. 

Ellinor  was  really  sensible  of  her  fault, 
and  she  prayed  to  God  sincerely  to  pardon  it, 
and  to  help  her  to  keep  his  commandments 
better  for  the  futui'e.  Her  aunt's  lessons  had, 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  sunk  deep  into  her 
heart,  and  the  little  girl  had  learnt  to  love  her 


LITTLE  ELLINOR's  PRAYER. 


129 


Saviour.  She  loved  to  liear  the  Bible  read, 
she  loved  to  hear  about  Jesus,  and  she  longed 
to  be,  as  she  herself  said,  “one  of  his  little 
lambs.”  She  felt  truly  grieved  that  she  had 
done  that  day  what  was  so  displeasing  in  his 
sight. 

“ Ellinor,”  said  her  aunt,  as  soon  as  they 
were  alone  in  her  own  room,  “I  do  not  think 
you  know  how  unkind  you  were  to  your 
cousins  to-day.” 

Ellinor  began  again  to  cry,  and  she  assured 
her  aunt  that  she  did. 

“ I do  not  think  I can  let  you  subscribe  to 
the  missionary  box.” 

Ellinor  looked  as  if  she  should  like  to  ask 
her  aunt,  what  her  conduct  at  home  had  to 
do  with  subscribing  to  the  missionary  box. 
“Why  do  you  wish  to  subscribe  to  the  mis- 
sionary box'?”  said  her  aunt,  in  answer  to 
her  look. 

WInjI  is  rather  a puzzling  question  for  a 
little  girl.  Ellinor  thought  a minute  or  two, 
and  then  she  said,  “that  the  heathen  might 
leave  off  worshipping  idols,  and  learn  to  love 
Christ.” 

“ Is  it  only  your  own  Ayah,  whom  you 
love,  that  you  wish  to  be  taught  ?” 

“ Oh,  all,''  said  Ellinor,  “ I wish  them  all  to 
be  taught.” 

“We  ought  to  wish  it,  certainly,”  said  her 
aunt;  “first,  for  the  glory  of  our  blessed  Re- 
deemer, whose  kingdom  shall  spread  over  all 
the  earth ; and  because  it  is  his  command- 
ment that  the  gospel  should  be  preached  in 


130 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


every  nation:  but  it  is  written  in  the  Bible, 
that  he  who  loveth  God  must  love  his  brother 
also,  1 John  iv.  21  ; we  ought,  therefore,  to 
w'ish  it  also,  for  the  sake  of  the  poor,  igno- 
rant, and  unhapjiy  w'orshippers  of  false  gods; 
we  ought  to  wish  it,  pray  for  it,  help  towards 
it,  out  of  kindness  to  them.” 

“So  I do  wish  to  be  kind  to  them,”  said 
Ellinor. 

“Nay,  but  my  child,”  said  her  aunt,  “how 
can  that  be,  when  you  are  not  kind  to  your 
own  cousins  ?” 

“Ah ! but  aunt,  I was  very  angry.” 

“It  is  a very  easy  thing,  Ellinor,  to  be 
kind  when  we  are  pleased;  But  it  is  our  duty 
to  be  kind  to  others  at  all  times,  and  to  do 
every  thing  we  can  to  make  them  comfort- 
able and  happy.  Besides,  you  say,  you  real- 
ly wish  the  heathen  to  learn  to  love  Christ, 
do  you  not  equally  wish  that  people  in  your 
own  country,  in  your  own  home,  should  do 
the  same  I” 

“O  yes.” 

“ And  how  does  our  Saviour  say  you  are 
to  try  and  teach  them?” 

Ellinor  could  not  answer  this  question,  so 
her  aunt  told  her  to  look  in  Matt,  v.,  and  see 
if  she  could  find  the  answer,  but  she  could 
not;  so  her  aunt  told  her  it  w'as  verse  16, 
and  asked  her  the  meaning  of  it.  Ellinor 
said  it  meant  that  we  should  teach  others  by 
showing  our  love  to  Christ  in  our  outward 
conduct.  “ I am  speaking  to  you  now,” 
said  her  aunt,  “ as  a child  who  desires  to  be 


LITTLE  ELLINOr’s  PRAYER. 


131 


one  of  Clirist’s  lambs,  and  I am  speaking  of 
your  conduct,  not  with  respect  to  the  sin  you 
committed  towards  God,  but  that  which  you 
were  guilty  of  towards  your  fellow-creatures, 
and  which  you  see  was  very  great.  God 
looks  upon  the  heart,  and  you  know  that  to- 
day you  have  indulged  your  angry  temper 
secretly  without  any  restraint,  and  openly  so 
far  as  you  could  wdthout  drawdng  down  pun- 
ishment upon  yourself,  and  even  some  slight 
degree  further,  and  yet  you  think  that  your 
conduct  at  home  has  nothing  at  all  to  do 
with  your  washes  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  ; or  rather,  I am  afraid,  that  you 
never  considered  wdien  you  otfered  your 
penny  a week,  either  what  you  washed,  or 
why  you  wished  it.  Now  my  little  darling, 
listen  to  me,  whenever  you  subscribe  to  a 
missionary  society,  ask  yourself  why  you  do 
so ; and  if  your  heart  can  answ  er,  it  is  from 
love  to  Christ,  and  love  to  my  fellow-crea- 
tures: then  ask  yourself  again,  does  my  con- 
duct at  home  prove  that  these  are  my  true 
motives'!  For  he  sure  that  you  can  love  but 
little,  and  care  but  little  for  the  distant  hea- 
then, while  you  do  not  love  and  care  for 
those  people  whom  you  see  every  day,  and 
those  who  live  in  the  same  house,  and  belong 
to  the  same  family  as  yourself. 


EAROTONGA. 


In  the  great  Pacific  ocean,  there  are  a num- 
ber of  very  beautiful  islands,  which  were 
discovered  by  Captain  Cook.  The  inhabi- 
tants were  heathen ; some  sacrificed  human 
victims  to  their  idols,  some  eat  human  flesh, 
others  were  less  cruel  and  barbarous,  but  all 
were  heathen,  and  addicted  to  most  of  the 
foolish,  vain,  and  wicked  practices,  which 
distinguish  the  worshippers  of  the  false  gods. 

About  forty  years  ago,  missionaries  were 
sent  to  these  islands ; year  after  year  how- 
ever, tlieir  labour  seemed  in  vain ; until,  after 
a length  of  time  spent  in  patient,  though  un- 
successful endeavours,  it  pleased  God  to  re- 
ward their  toil,  making  them  the  instruments 
of  converting  numbers  of  these  barbarous 
people  to  Christianity. 

Among  the  number  of  missionaries  whose 
labours  were  thus  blest,  was  one  of  the 
name  of  Williams.  But  the  missionaries 
were  few,  and  the  islands  were  counted  by 
hundreds,  and  the  natives  by  thousands  and 
thousands.  Mr.  Williams  therefore  explain- 
132 


RAROTONGA. 


133 


ed  to  his  people,  that  it  was  their  duty, 
having  heard  tfie  word  of  God  theinselves, 
to  assist  in  instructing  their  ignorant  coun- 
trymen, in  the  neighbouring  islands.  1 hey 
gladly  acceded,  and  one  named  Papeiha, 
offered  to  set  out.  Mr.  Williams  had  heard 
there  was,  not  far  from  there,  an  island,  call- 
ed Rarotonga.  No  one  seemed  to  know 
where  to  find  it,  and  all  endeavoured  to  per- 
suade him,  not  to  think  of  going  there,  tor 
said  they,  “they  are  a most  ferocious  people, 
horrid  cannibals,  and  exceedingly  treachei- 
ous,  and  if  you  go,  you  wull  lose  your  life. 

' This  information,  however,  far  from  deter- 
ring Mr.  Williams,  only  made  him  more 
anxious  to  find  the  island ; for  he  felt,  that 
the  more  wicked  the  people  were,  the  more 
they  needed  instruction ; so  he  set  out  on  his 
voyage ; but  day  after  day,  he  traversed  the 
ocean  in  vain,  no  Rarotonga  could  be  found, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  return.  After  a little 
while,  however,  he  set  out  again  on  the  same 
voyage,  and  for  a long  time,  he  sailed  about 
without  meeting  with  any  better  success  : his 
OTOvisions  were  nearly  all  exhausted,  and 
fearing  that  himself,  and  the  crew  would 
soon  suffer  for  want  of  food,  he  resolved  that 
should  eight  o’clock  that  morning  come  with- 
out their  having  been  successful,  they  would 
once  more  return  home.  Many  times  duiing 
those  few  hours  did  he  send  a native  to  the 
top  of  the  mast,  to  see  if  he  could  discovei 
land,  but  in  vain,  until  within  half  an  hour 
of  the  time  fixed  for  their  returning  home, 
12 


134 


missionary  tales. 


the  rising  sun  dispelled  the  mists  which 
enveloped  its  towering  hills,  and  the  lovely 
island  presented  itself  to  their  view.  There 
was  a general  smile  of  congratulation  on 
board  the  little  vessel,  as  she  dropped  her 
anchor  near  the  shore.  A canoe,  containing 
Papeiha  and  some  other  natives,  was  sent 
on  shore ; they  held  a consultation  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  island,  under  the  shade  of 
immense  trees,  called  Temanu  trees,  told 
them  for  what  purpose  they  were  come,  and 
inquired  if  they  were  willing  to  receive 
them?  They  said  they  were,  and  the  king 
Makea,  accompanying  them  to  the  vessel, 
told  Mr.  Williams  he  was  willing  they  should 
remain.  So  they  went  back  to  the  island. 
The  vessel  remained  until  next  morning,  as  I 
suppose,  Mr.  Williams  wanted  to  see  how 
his  friends  were  treated.  Next  morning 
they  came  oft' to  the  vessel  and  gave  a dread- 
ful account  of  the  manner,  in  which  they 
had  been  used,  so  that  Mr.  Williams  was 
afraid  to  leave  them  : Papeiha,  however,  in- 
sisted upon  remaining  ; he  remembered  when 
he  was  himself  one  of  the  heathen,  and  he 
pitied  his  blind  and  foolish  countrymen : 
taking  nothing  with  him,  for  fear  of  being 
robbed,  except  his  Bible  and  a few  books,  he 
jumped  into  the  canoe,  accompanied  by  a 
few  other  Christian  natives,  and  returned  to 
the  island : the  missionary  set  sail,  and  de- 
parted. 

Rarotonga  is  a beautiful  place;  its  hills 
and  valleys  are  rich  in  the  fruits  of  the  earth: 


RAROTONGA. 


135 


mighty  trees  overshadow  the  land,  and  grow 
down  to  the  very  borders  of  the  sea ; not  in 
a dense  unwholesome  forest,  shutting  out 
the  light  of  the  sun ; but  scattered  here  and 
there  among  the  green  hills,  and  affording  a 
delicious  shade  ; some  are  covered  with  beau- 
tiful flowers,  some  with  light  foliage,  waving 
like  plumes  in  the  wind,  and  many  supply 
the  natives  with  food,  such  as  the  cocoa, 
and  the  bread-fruit-tree.  Nor  was  the  island 
uncultivated ; a good  road  run  all  round  it, 
on  each  side  of  which  grew  tht2  banana,  the 
mountain  plantain,  and  gigantic  chestnuts. 
On  each  side  of  this  road  a little  distance 
from  it,  stood  the  pi'etty  houses  of  the  inhabi- 
tants ; leading  to  each  was  a path,  stiewed 
with  black  and  white  pebbles,  and  bordered 
on  either  side  by  the  Ti  tree,  with  its  tufted 
top  and  delicate  blossoms,  and  the  gigantic 
Taro.  Six  or  eight  stone  seats  were  placed 
near  the  path  in  front  of  each  house,  and 
here,  in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  after  the 
labours  of  the  day,  crowned  with  flowers,  and 
wearing  a shining  pakaku,*  sat  the  inmates  of 
the  house,  ready  to  enter  into  conversation 
with  all  the  passers-by. 

The  natives  were  very  fond  of  these  seats, 
and  used  to  point  to  them  and  say,  “ It  vvms 
here  my  father  and  my  grand-father  sat ! 

But  notwithstanding  the  Rarotongans  lived 
in  such  a lovely  place,  and  were  surrounded 
by  the  gifts  of  a kind  and  merciful  God, 
they  were,  in  many  respects,  fierce  and  cruel 
* Au  article  made  of  native  cloth. 


136 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


savages.  They  offered  human  victims  to  their 
idols,  whom  they  killed  in  a barbarous  man- 
ner : when  one  member  of  a family  had  been 
offered,  all  the  rest  were  sure  to  be  seized 
upon  in  their  turn ; wherever  they  fled  to 
they  were  taken  when  their  turn  came.  Even 
if  they  escaped  to  the  mountains,  they  were 
hunted  there  with  dogs  as  soon  as  they  were 
wanted  for  this  horrid  purpose. 

Such  were  the  people  amongst  whom  Pa- 
peiha,  accompanied  by  a few  others,  now 
ventured  himself.  On  reachina;  the  shore  he 
was  conducted  to  the  house  of  Makea,  the 
chief,  or  king.  He  was  followed  by  a crowd 
of  natives  ; one  shouted,  “ I'll  have  his  hat 
another,  “ I’ll  have  his  jacket and  another, 
“ I’ll  have  his  shirt !”  As  soon  as  he  came 
into  the  king’s  presence,  Makea  said  to  him, 
“ Speak  to  us,  O man,  that  we  may  know 
the  business  about  which  you  are  come.” 
Papeiha  replied,  that  he  had  come  to  in- 
struct them  in  the  worship  of  the  true  God, 
and  in  the  way  of  salvation,  through  Christ, 
that  they  might  burn  the  idols  of  wood,  of 
cloth,  and  of  birds’  feathers,  which  they  had 
made  and  called  gods : immediately  there 
burst  forth  a tremendous  shout  of,  “ Burn 
the  gods ! what  shall  we  do  without  the 
gods  ?”  The  chief,  however,  let  Papeiha  go 
without  doing  him  any  harm  ; he  established 
himself  on  the  island,  and  morning  and  even- 
ing, on  a stone,  shadowed  by  a grove  of 
banana  trees,  he  addressed  the  Rarotongans. 
By  degrees  they  began  to  listen. 


RAROTONGA. 


137 


There  was  in  the  island  of  Rarotonga,  a 
place  called  Arorangi,  of  which  a person 
named  Tinomana,  was  chief;  as  the  people 
of  Arorangi  were  not  so  strong  as  Makea 
and  his  people,  they  were  much  oppressed 
by  them.  They  stole  their  food  and  property, 
and  whenever  a human  sacrifice  was  le- 
quired,  they  seized  upon  one  of  them:  so 
great  was  their  danger,  that  when  they  want- 
ed fish  for  food,  they  were  obliged  to  steal 
down  to  the  sea  in  the  depth  of  the  night  for 
it,  and  return  before  it  was  light.  Tinomana, 
the  chief  of  this  unhappy  people,  having 
heard  of  Papeiha,  sent  for  him  and  told  him 
he  wanted  to  hear  something  about  Christ. 
Papeiha  went:  he  instructed  him  in  some 
things  relating  to  the  worship  of  God,  and 
exhorted  him  to  burn  his  idols.  The  chief 
meditated  for  some  hours  upon  this,  and  at 
length  he  came  again  to  Papeiha,  and  told 
him  that  he  had  a great  mind  to  burn  his 
gods,  but  he  was  afraid  they  might  be  enraged 
and  strangle  him  in  the  night.  Papeiha  as- 
sured him  there  was  no  fear,  as  they  pos- 
sessed no  real  power;  the  chief,  however, 
could  not  be  convinced.  In  the  evening  they 
went  to  prayer,  and  many  of  the  natives 
joined  them. 

The  natives  of  that  warm  climate  do  not 
sleep  on  beds,  but  on  mats  spread  on  the 
floor;  after  he  had  prayed,  Papeiha  spread 
out  his  mat  and  laid  himself  down  to  sleep : 
Tinomana,  full  of  affection  for  his  new  friend, 
brought  his  mat,  and  placing  it  at  his  side, 
12* 


138 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


told  liim  he  came  to  be  taught  how  to  pray. 
Papeiha,  happy  to  be  so  employed,  repeated 
a short  prayer,  which  the  chief  said  after 
him;  he  then  dropped  oft’  to  sleep,  but  was 
soon  aroused  by  the  chief,  who  said  to  him, 
‘‘Pve  forgotten  it;  go  over  it  again.”  This 
Papeiha  did,  but  Tinomana  anxious  to  be 
taught  to  pray,  awoke  him  again  several 
times  during  the  night,  to  ask  the  same  thing. 
In  the  morning,  Papeiha  returned  home,  and 
Tinomana  accompanied  him  part  of  the  w'ay, 
still  endeavouring  to  learn  the  prayer,  and 
assuring  him  when  they  parted,  that  he  would 
think  much  of  what  he  had  heard. 

A little  while  after  Papeiha  had  returned 
to  the  place  where  he  lived,  there  was  a hea- 
then feast,  and  a large  number  of  the  people 
assembled  to  oft'er  food  to  their  gods;  the 
w'orshippers  presented  a strange  and  hideous 
appearance.  Some  had  one  side  blackened 
wdth  charcoal,  another  was  painted  all  over 
with  dift'erently  coloured  stripes;  others  again 
were  dressed  up  in  shells  and  birds’  feathers. 
Papeiha  walked  boldly  into  the  midst  of  the 
assetnbly,  and  remonstrated  with  them  on 
their  folly  and  wickedness.  The  scene  of 
uproar  and  frenzy  w'as  stilled,  and  they  lis- 
tened quietly  to  him.  When  he  had  done 
speaking,  the  people  began  to  ask  him  ques- 
tions:— “Where  is  your  God?”  said  they, 
“ we  do  not  see  him !”  “ He  fills  heaven 

and  earth  wdth  his  presence,”  answered  Pa- 
peiha. “ How  is  it  then,  we  do  .not  run 
against  him  ?”  asked  the  ignorant  savage. 


RAROTONGA. 


139 


“ The  earth,”  answered  Papeiha,  “ is  full 
of  air,  and  full  of  light,  but  we  do  not  run 
against  either  of  them the  meeting,  how^- 
ever,  broke  up  without  fui’ther  results. 

Alone  on  this  barbarous  island,  far  from 
his  country  and  his  friends,  Papeiha  found 
all  his  consolation  in  his  Bible  and  prayer ; 
away  from  his  kind  teachers,  the  mission- 
aries, he  had  none  whose  counsel  he  could 
ask,  except  that  of  his  Bible,  or  I should 
rather  say,  Testament,  which  was  the  only 
part  of  the  Bible  then  translated  into  his 
native  language.  When  he  walked  out  he 
carried  it  with  him  ; when  he  sat  in  his  house 
he  read  it,  until  the  people  remarking  his 
strong  attachment  to  it,  exclaimed  at  last  to 
each  other,  “It  is  his  God!”  and  when  they 
saw  him  reading  it,  they  said,  “that  he  and 
his  God  were  talking  together.”  My  dear 
little  reader,  this  you  know  was  the  silly 
mistake  of  ignorant  people,  but  does  not 
God,  indeed,  talk  to  us,  when  we  read  the 
Bible?  and  should  we  not  listen  with  the 
deepest  reverence  as  if  to  his  voice  ? When 
we  hear,  or  read  his  word  in  an  idle,  careless 
manner,  we  are  like  those  Jews  who  came 
to  hear  the  instructions  of  the  prophet  Eze- 
kiel, and  of  whom  the  Lord  said,  that  they 
heard  his  words  and  did  not  do  them,  listen- 
ing to  them  as  if  they  were  only  “ a lovely 
song.” 

For  many  months  Papeiha  continued  to 
labour  among  these  people,  but  with  very 
little  success  : yet  he  was  not  discouraged  ; 


140 


MISSIONARY  TALES- 


he  loved  Christ,  and  was  happy  in  seeing 
him;  the  result  he  left  to  his  will;  and  it  did 
please  the  Lord  to  grant  him  finally  great 
success,  which  commenced  in  the  following 
way.  The  Rarotongans  were  under  an  ap- 
prehension that  if  they  destroyed  their  idols, 
they  would  come  in  the  night  and  strangle 
them.  Fully  impressed  with  this  dreadful 
idea,  even  when  they  were  convinced  of  the 
folly  of  worshipping  idols,  they  were  afraid 
to  burn  them.  Now  there  was  in  the  island, 
a man,  who  after  long  reflection,  had  come 
to  the  determination  of  worshipping  only  the 
true  God,  yet  he  could  not  but  think  his  life 
was  exposed  to  much  danger  in  consequence. 
However  willing  he  might  be  to  meet  the 
danger  himself,  he  had  a little  son,  whom  no 
doubt  he  loved  very  much,  and  he  could  not 
endure  the  thought  of  his  being  strangled  in 
the  night,  so  he  brought  him  to  Papeiha’s 
house,  and  having  placed  him  where  he 
thought  he  was  out  of  the  power  of  the  idol, 
he  brought  the  latter  also  to  Papeiha  to  be 
burnt.  This  proceeding  drew  a number  of 
people  round  him,  who  showed  the  greatest 
concern  and  alarm ; the  man,  however,  was 
not  to  be  moved  by  their  entreaties,  and  he 
laid  his  idol  at  the  feet  of  the  Christians. 
Papeiha  took  a saw,  and  began  to  saw  it  in 
pieces  ; the  moment  the  terrified  people  per- 
ceived the  saw  applied  to  the  head  of  the 
idol,  they  fled  from  the  spot,  and  even 
the  new  convert  plunged  for  concealment 
among  the  bushes.  After  a little  while'. 


RAROTONGA. 


141 


however,  they  returned,  and  in  the  presence 
of  the  whole  crowd,  the  pieces  of  the  idol 
were  set  on  fire  and  burnt  to  ashes.  When 
this  was  done,  Papeiha  roasted  some  bana- 
nas among  the  ashes,  and  he  and  the  other 
Christians  eat  them,  in  order  to  prove  to  the 
people,  that  the  idol  had  no  power  to  hurt 
them.  Day  after  day  passed  away,  and  as 
neither  Papeiha  nor  his  friends  were  stran- 
gled, the  Rarotongans  became  convinced  of 
what  he  had  told  them,  that  the  idols  had 
indeed,  no  power;  great  numbers  followed 
the  example  thus  set  them,  and  within  ten 
days,  fourteen  idols  were  destroyed.  Among 
the  rest,  Tinomana,  the  chief,  who  was  so 
anxious  to  learn  how  to  pray,  set  fire  to  his 
idols,  their  altars,  and  temples,  and  entpated 
Papeiha  henceforth  to  instruct  him  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 

From  this  time,  the  Lord  blessed  the  in- 
structions of  Papeiha,  and  the  light  of  the 
gospel  spread  rapidly  amongst  the  Raroton- 
gans. A vessel  that  touched  at  the  island 
brought  the  missionary  Mr.  Williams,  intel- 
ligence of  their  increase  in  piety,  knowledge, 
and  devotedness  to  God ; and  Papeiha  also 
sent  letters  to  Mr.  Williams,  begging  him  to 
come  and  pay  them  a visit. 

Accordingly,  Mr.  Williams,  accompanied 
by  his  wife  and  some  English  friends,  who 
intended  to  remain  as  missionaries  there,  set 
sail  for  Rarotonga,  where  he  was  received 
with  great  joy  by  the  inhabitants,  their  king 
Makea,  and  their  teacher  Papeiha. 


142 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


A few  days  after  their  arrival,  a procession 
of  the  people  came  to  them  bearing  a number 
of  idols,  which  they  cast  at  the  missionary’s 
feet  to  be  destroyed:  some  of  them  were 
adorned  with  strings  of  pearl  shells,  which 
they  called  the  soul  of  the  idol,  some  with 
red  feathers  or  cloth,  and  all  were  of  a very 
large  size. 

On  the  following  Sunday,  nearly  four  thou- 
sand people  assembled  to  hear  the  mission- 
aries preach,  and  as  a very  few  of  that  num- 
ber could  get  into  the  house,  one  of  the  first 
things  the  missionary  thought  of  was  to  build 
them  a place  of  worship,  which  was  com- 
menced the  following  week.  The  people 
were  all  delighted  to  help,  and  to  watch  the 
skill  the  English  showed,  which  appeared  to 
them  most  wonderful.  One  day,  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, having  forgotten  one  of  his  tools,  wrote 
a line  to  Mrs.  Williams,  on  a chip  of  wood, 
asking  her  to  send  it  to  him.  The  chief  who 
carried  it  to  Mrs.  Williams,  finding  that  it 
made  known  what  Mr.  Williams  wanted, 
never  having  seen  writing  before,  w^as  in  a state 
of  ecstasy  of  surprise  and  delight ; he  leaped 
out  of  the  house,  and  ran  among  the  people, 
to  display  the  wonderful  “ chip  that  could 
talk,”  and  for  many  days  he  wore  it  sus- 
pended round  his  neck. 

During  the  whole  of  this  time  the  mission- 
aries were  also  engaged  in  instructing  the 
people ; in  translating  parts  of  the  gospel  into 
their  language,  and  teaching  them  to  read. 
Many  a pleasant  Sabbath,  too,  did  the  Chris- 


sarotonga. 


143 


tians  pass  in  prayer  and  praise;  many  a Sab- 
bath sun,  as  it  slowly  set  over  their  beautiful 
island,  beheld  them  sitting  under  the  banana 
and  plantain  trees,  which  encircled  the  dwel- 
ling of  their  beloved  missionary,  and  listening 
to  his  instructions  from  the  word  of  God. 

Things  went  on  for  a long  time  in  this 
pleasant  manner,  until  the  missionary,  who 
had  only  intended  to  stay  at  Rarotonga  for  a 
few  months,  began  to  wish  to  return  to  his 
own  settlement.  Month  after  month  went  by, 
and  no  vessel  approached  that  remote  island, 
nor  had  he  any  means  of  leaving  it : so,  at 
last,  he  set  to  work,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
natives,  to  build  a ship  for  himself,  in  which 
he  also  intended  to  visit  more  remote  islands, 
which  had  never  heard  the  gospel.  There  is 
a very  amusing  account  of  how  Mr.  Williams 
built  his  ship,  and  how  the  natives  helped 
him ; how  the  rats  eat  the  bellows  in  the 
night,  all  but  the  bare  boards ; and  how  King 
Makea  was  so  delighted  at  the  sight  of  the 
pump,  that  he  had  his  favourite  stool  carried 
on  board,  and  amused  himself  for  hours  in 
pumping.  At  last  the  vessel  was  finished, 
launched,  and  called  the  “ Messenger  of 
Peace.”  Mr.  Williams,  before  trusting  his 
little  ship  on  a long  voyage,  sailed  to  a neigh- 
bouring island  to  try  it,  and  King  Makea 
went  with  him.  They  reached  the  island  in 
safety,  and  remained  there  a few  days.  They 
collected  for  their  return  a cargo  of  pigs, 
cocoa  nuts,  and  cats,  of  which  last  Makea 
obtained  a good  many,  for,  as  I have  told. 


144 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


you,  the  rats  were  very  troublesome  in  Raro- 
tonga. They  were  always  running  about  all 
day,  as  well  as  all  night,  and  were  so  very 
audacious,  that  when  the  missionaries  were 
having  their  meals,  they  were  obliged  to  em- 
ploy two  or  three  persons  to  keep  them  away. 
Once  before,  a cat  was  taken  to  Rarotonga, 
but  frightened  at  the  sight  of  so  many  strange- 
looking  people,  poor  puss  escaped  from  her 
mistress,  and  took  refuge  in  an  idol’s  temple. 
Now  the  Rarotongans  had  never  seen  a cat, 
so  when  one  of  the  natives  entered  the  temple, 
and  puss  greeted  him  with  a loud  mew,  he 
tied  back  in  terror,  shouting  that  there  was  in 
the  temple,  a “monster  from  the  deep.”  Upon 
this,  a party  of  some  hundreds  assembled, 
who  put  on  their  war  caps,  and  daubed 
themselves  with  charcoal,  and  brought  their 
spears,  clubs,  and  slings,  to  make  battle  with 
puss.  Puss,  by  her  agility,  escaped  that 
time;  but  it  was  not  long  before  being  again 
found,  she  fell  a victim  to  their  terror,  and 
was  beaten  to  death.  The  Rarotongans, 
however,  were  grown  wiser  since  this,  and 
Makea  was  delighted  with  his  present  of 
cats.  On  their  voyage  back  to  Rarotonga, 
the  wind  was  unfavourable,  and  Makea  was 
seized  with  an  alarm,  that  they  would  never 
be  able  to  find  the  island  again.  When  the 
storm  howled,  and  the  waves  struck  against 
the  ship,  the  chief  came  in  terror  to  the  mis- 
sionary, to  know  whether  it  would  be  broke 
to  pieces.  Being  assured  there  was  no  dan- 
ger, he,  was  pacified;  but  not  sufficiently  to 


RAROTONGA. 


145 


suffer  the  missionary  to  be  out  of  his  sight 
for  one  moment.  Every  time  during  the 
night  that  he  went  on  deck,  he  was  followed 
by  the  anxious  chief.  As  day  after  day 
passed  without  their  reaching  his  beloved 
isle,  he  expressed  again  his  fears  that  they 
had  lost  it,  and  were  sailing  into  the  “wide 
gaping  space.”  At  last,  on  the  third  evening, 
the  missionary  begged  him  to  go  to  sleep,  till 
the  moon  rose,  when  Rarotonga  would  be  iu 
sight.  “Can  I sleep,  friend  I”  said  the  melan- 
choly chief ; so  he  remained  on  deck  until  the 
moon  rose,  when,  to  his  surprise  and  joy,  his 
beautiful  island  appeared  to  his  eyes. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Williams’  arrival,  he  re- 
ceived letters  from  the  natives  at  his  own 
settlement,  begging  him  to  return.  “Your 
premises,”  said  they,  “are  overgrown  with 
weeds ; your  large  boat  is  being  eaten  by  ther 
worms,  and  your  cattle  are  running  wild,  for 
the  people  you  left  in  charge  of  them  are 
neglectful.”  The  Rarotongans  were  very 
sorry  to  part  with  Mr.  Williams  and  his  fami- 
ly. Not  only  had  they  dwelt  among  them  as 
the  people  of  God,  instructing  and  comforting 
them  in  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  but  they  had  also  at- 
tended to  their  bodily  wants,  and  strove  to 
render  them  in  every  respect  better,  wiser., 
and  happier.  In  return,  the  Rarotongans 
loved  them  with  grateful  affection.  For 
more  than  a month  previous  to  their  depar- 
ture, groups  would  assemble  in  the  cool  of 
the  evening,  and  sitting  under  the  shade  of 
13 


146 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


their  golden  bananas,  would  sing,  in  a soft 
voice,  verses  expressive  of  their  sorrow  in 
losing  their  friends.  On  the  evening  of  their 
departure,  thousands  assembled  on  the  beach, 
and,  as  the  “ Messenger  of  Peace”  unfurled 
her  sails,  and  slowly  receded  from  the  shore, 
they  sang,  with  one  voice,  one  of  their  own 
sweet  songs, 

Ria  ora  e Tama  ma 

I te  aerenga  i te  moana  e ; 

which  means,  in  English,  “ Blessing  on  you, 
beloved  friends,  blessing  on  you  in  journey- 
ing on  the  deep !”  The  sounds  became 
fainter  and  fainter,  till  they  were  lost  in  the 
distance,  and  the  beautiful  Rai'otonga  once 
more  disappeared  from  their  eyes. 

“ Go  and  do  thou  likewise,”  little  child ! 
“ What !”  say  you,  “ can  I find  out  a heathen- 
ish land,  and  send  people  to  teach  them  the 
gospel?  can  I show  the  savages  how  to  build 
houses  and  ships,  and  to  make  furniture,  to 
work  at  the  forge  and  the  sugar-mill,  or  the 
women  to  sew,  make  bonnets,  cut  out  clothes, 
and  dress  like  civilized  people  ?”  No,  you  can 
do  none  of  these  things,  it  is  true,  but  if  you  are 
a child  of  God,  you  can  watch  your  opportu- 
nity of  doing  many  little  kind  offices  to  others. 
It  is  not  in  great  services  that  the  spirit  of 
Christianity  consists;  happy  is  the  mission- 
ary, who,  among  the  distant  heathen,  can 
prove  his  love  to  Christ,  by  the  benefits,  tem- 
poral as  well  as  spiritual,  which  he  labours 
to  be  the  instrument  of  conferring  on  his  fel- 


RAROTONGA. 


147 


low  creatures;  and  happy  is  the  little  child 
who  in  her  own  quiet  and  comfortable  home, 
endeavours  to  show  her  love  to  her  Saviour, 
by  loving,  and  helping,  and  caring  for  eveiy 
one,  according  to  his  most  blessed  command- 
ment. 


THE  JEWS  AT  SHIRAZ. 


The  prophetical  words  of  Moses  to  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel,  when-  he  was  about  to  part  from 
them,  on  the  borders  of  the  promised  land, 
contain  an  outline  of  their  history  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  He  told  them  of  those  troubles 
which  they  would  have  to  endure  if  they 
disobeyed,  and  which  they  are  enduring, 
even  to  the  present  time.  Amongst  other 
things,  he  told  them  that  they  should  be 
driven  away  from  the  beautiful  land  of  which 
they  were  just  going  to  take  possession,  and 
be  scattered  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  “ Thou  shalt  be  removed  into  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth;”  again,  “the  Lord 
shall  bring  thee  and  thy  king  which  thou 
shalt  set  over  thee,  unto  a nation  which 
neither  thou  nor  thy  fathers  have  known.” 
Not  only  so,  but,  in  addition  to  this,  their  pro- 
phet further  tells  them,  that  even  then  they 
shall  have  no  peace.  “Among  these  nations 
shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  neither  shall  the  sole 
of  thy  foot  have  rest;  but  the  Lord  shall  give 
thee  here  a trembling  heart  and  failing  of 
148 


THE  JEWS  AT  SHIRAZ. 


149 


eyes,  and  sorrow  of  mind.  And  thy  life 
shall  hang  in  doubt  before  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  fear  day  and  night,  and  shalt  have  none 
assurance  of  thy  life.  In  the  morning,  thou 
shalt  say,  “ Would  God  it  were  even,  and  at 
even  thou  shalt  say,  Would  God  it  were 
morning  !”  These  words  were  spoken  to  the 
Jews,  at  the  time  they  were  just  going  to 
enter  the  promised  land.  How  long  they 
lived  there,  and  continued  to  disobey  God 
and  rebel  against  Him,  the  Bible  tells  us.  It 
is  now  nearly  eighteen  hundred  years  since 
they  left  their  own  country,  and  they  are  still 
scattered  among  other  nations,  despised  and 
persecuted. 

But  you  must  not  think  that,  because  they 
are  suffering  the  punishment  of  their  sins, 
God  is  less  displeased  with  those  who  are 
cruel  towards  them.  Our  Saviour  says,  “ it 
must  needs  be  that  offences  come : but  woe 
to  that  maaby  whom  the  offence  cometh  !” 
There  was  a nation — the  Edomites — whose 
country  was  next  to  that  of  the  Jews;  and 
when  God  was  angry  with  the  Jews,  and  cause 
armies  to  come  against  them  and  carry  them 
away  captives,  this  cruel  people  rejoiced  in 
their  destruction,  and  assisted  in  it,  but  this 
drew  down  upon  them  the  displeasure  of 
God,  who  said  to  them,  “ Thou  shouldest  not 
have  looked  on  the  day  of  thy  brother,  in  the 
day  that  he  became  a stranger ; neither 
shouldest  thou  have  rejoiced  over  the  chil- 
dren of  Judah,  in  the  day  of  their  destruction ; 
neither  shouldest  thou  have  spoken  proudly 
13* 


150 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


in  the  day  of  distress As  thou  hast  done, 

it  shall  be  done  unto  thee;  thy  reward  shall 
return  upon  thine  own  head.”  The  w'ords 
of  the  Lord  have  been  fulfilled;  that  coun- 
try is  now  desolate;  and  of  their  chief  city,* 
then  rich,  beautiful  and  flourishing,  only  a 
few  ruins  now  remain,  and  the  desert  around 
is  so  infested  with  dangerous  and  barbarous 
people,  that  even  the  wild  Arabs  can  scarce- 
ly be  induced,  by  any  reward,  to  guide  travel- 
lers to  the  spot,  wdiere  they  may  behold  the 
few  yet  mighty  remains  of  its  former  gran- 
deur, now  the  abode  of  snakes,  owls,  and  the 
creatures  of  the  wilderness.  Thus,  we  see 
that  cruelty  to  the  Jews,  is  displeasing  to 
God;  nor  only  to  the  Jews;  all  sort  of  un- 
kindness or  want  of  sympathy  towards  others 
is  displeasing  to  Him.  It  was  one  of  the 
crimes  of  the  Edomites — they  stood  “ on  the 
other  side,” — that  is,  they  did  not  help  those 
that  wmre  in  trouble.  So,  if  yo«  remember 
our  Saviour’s  parable  of  the  good  Sama- 
ritan, the  Priest  and  Levite  did  not  do  any 
harm  to  the  wounded  man,  they  only  “passed 
by  on  the  other  side ;”  that  is,  they  did  not 
assist  or  take  any  notice  of  him.  My  little 
reader,  do  you  never  “pass  by  on  the  other 
side  I”  Yes;  whenever  you  see  a person  in 
trouble,  and  do  not  endeavour  to  comfort  and 
assist  them.  If  you  cannot  help  them,  you 
can  be  sorry  for  them,  and  let  them  feel  that 
you  are  so.  Do  you  ask  me  how '!  have  you 


* Petra. 


THE  JEWS  AT  SHIRAZ. 


151 


never  seen  a little  sister  crying,  or  an  elder 
sister  unhappy,  whom  your  kindness  and  af- 
fection might  comfort  1 Have  you  never  seen 
your  mamma  sorrowful  ? And  do  you  not 
know  that  your  love  and  your  sympathy, 
even  if  you  are  but  a very  little  child,  would 
be  pleasing  to  her?  And  besides  our  own 
family,  we  should  pity  and  feel  for  every  hu- 
man being  who  we  know  is  unhappy ; as  it 
is  said  in  the  Bible,  “ weep  with  those  who 
weep.”  If  this  is  the  case,  how  wicked  must 
it  be,  for  a child  to  be  glad  of  any  thing 
which  displeases,  or  irritates  another ! Some 
children  will  laugh  when  others  are  vexed, 
and  look  pleased  at  that  which  made  them 
so.  Let  such  children  remember  the  words 
which  God  spoke  to  the  Edomites. 

In  former  times,  the  Jews  who  lived  in 
England,  and  the  other  countries  of  Europe, 
were  tormented  in  various  ways.  If  they 
had  money,  they  did  not  dare  let  it  be  known, 
lest  it  should  be  violently  taken  away  from 
them,  and  they, perhaps,  killed  for  the  sake  of 
it.  Their  houses,  if  they  were  comfortable  in- 
side, were  obliged,  on  the  outside,  to  be  made 
to  look  mean,  poor,  and  dirty : even  then  the 
people  would,  sometimes,  break  open  the 
door  and  burst  in,  plundering  and  destroying 
every  thing.  Once,  when  a contagious  dis- 
order, something  like  a plague,  raged,  the  peo- 
ple took  it  into  their  heads  that  it  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  Jews  having  poisoned  the  water 
in  the  wells,  and  upon  this  false  and  wicked 


152 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


accusation,  great  numbers  were  cruelly  put 
to  death. 

They  were  driven  about  from  one  country 
to  another,  finding  no  where  a home,  and  no 
where  a rest.  Though  Europeans  have  be- 
come too  humane  to  persecute  them  in  that 
cruel  manner  now,  yet,  in  the  eastern  coun- 
tries, they  are  still  treated  with  extreme  bar- 
barity, and  are,  of  course,  in  consequence, 
poor,  miserable,  and  dejected.  A missionary, 
himself  a Jew,  but  a Christian  Jew,  and  a 
minister  of  Christ,  has  devoted  his  life  to  visit- 
ing his  people  scattered  about  in  the  difl’erent 
kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  endeavouring  to 
instruct  them  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  their 
own  Messiah.  This  missionary  is  Mr.  Wolff. 
He  gives  a sad  account  of  the  state  to  which 
he  found  the  Jews  in  the  east  reduced, 
and  mentions,  among  other  places,  their  la- 
mentable condition  in  the  town  of  Shiraz,  in 
Persia. 

Before  Mr.  Wolff  went  to  Shiraz  himself, 
he  made  some  inquiries  concerning  the  Jews 
there.  He  was  told — First,  that  every  house 
at  Shiraz,  with  a mean  entrance,  is  a Jew’s. 
Secondly — Every  man  with  a dirty  woollen 
turban  is  a Jew.  Thirdly — Every  coat  much 
torn  and  mended  about  the  back,  is  a Jew’s. 
Fourthly — Every  one  picking  up  old  broken 
glass,  is  a Jew.  Fifthly — Every  one  search- 
ing for  dirty  robes,  and  asking  for  old  shoes 
and  sandals,  is  a Jew.  Sixthly — That  house 
into  which  no  quadruped  but  a goat  will  en- 


THE  JEWS  AT  SHIRAZ. 


153 


ter,  is  a Jew’s.  All  these  things  describe, 
of  course,  their  miserable  and  persecuted 
situation ; for  their  misery  was  occasioned 
by  the  persecutions  they  endured.  This  ac- 
count did  not  deter  Mr.  Wolff  from  going  to 
Shiraz,  to  visit  them.  When  he  arrived,  he 
inquired  for  the  street  in  which  they  lived; 
for  in  many  cities  the  Jews  are  not  permitted 
to  reside  where  they  please,  but  are  obliged 
to  confine  themselves  to  one  particular  part 
of  the  town,  where  they  are  sometimes  locked 
up  at  night.  Mr.  Wolff,  on  entering  the 
place,  found  that  the  tale  of  their  misery  had 
not  been  exaggerated.  Old  men  and  women 
were  sitting  on  the  ground,  stretching  out 
their  hands,  and  crying,  with  a melan- 
choly voice,  “ Only  one  pool !”  (which  means 
penny.)  “ Only  one  pool!  I am  a poor 
Israale  ! I am  a poor  Israale  I”  Mr.  Wolff 
gave  them  some  money,  and  one  of  the 
Jews  said  to  him,  “We  have  heard  that 
you  are  a son  of  Israel,  and  have  brought 
us  the  gospel  in  Hebrew — give  us  the  gos- 
pel 1” 

He  entered  the  houses  of  his  poor  brethren, 
and  was  shocked  at  the  misery  which  every 
where  presented  itself.  They  were  all  of 
dwarfish  stature,  and  pale  and  yellow  in 
countenance,  the  effects  of  dirt  and  starva- 
tion— They  are,  indeed,  poor,  poor  Israel; 
their  only  song  is  now,  “ Only  one  pool ! 
only  one  pool!  I am  a poor,  poor  Israale  !” 
The  poor  starving  mother,  with  her  starving 


154 


MISSIONAEY  TALES. 


baby  in  her  arms,  cries,  “ Only  one  pool ! I 
am  a poor  Israale  !” 

And  are  these  the  people  who  were  once 
the  favoured  of  the  Lord  1 whose  city  was 
the  glory  of  the  w'hole  earth — whose  land 
abounded  with  the  precious  fruits  brought 
forth  by  the  sun — whose  temple  was  built  of 
cedar  and  gold — whose  streets  were  filled 
wdth  the  multitude  of  them  that  kept  holy- 
day  1 It  is,  indeed ! and  how  is  it  they  are 
so  changed?  Because  they  disobeyed  God, 
and  rejected  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  My  lit- 
tle reader,  you  and  I have  lost  a better  in- 
heritance— a more  glorious  land  than  that 
which  was  possessed  by  the  children  of  Is- 
rael. It  w'as  paradise,  the  Garden  of  Eden ! 
that  lovely  place  where  there  was  every 
ihinfT  which  was  pleasant  and  beautiful,  and 
which  Adam  lost,  both  for  himself  and  us, 
because  he  disobeyed  God.  Jesus  once  stood 
• in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem : it  had  not  now 
its  golden  doors;  its  partitions  of  chains  of 
gold:  its  walls  adorned  with  palm-trees  and 
open  flowers,  all  glittering  with  gold,  as  in 
the  davs  of  King  Solomon,  but  still  it  was  a 
rich  and  splendid  edifice.  The  Lord  knew 
that  the  hour  was  coming,  when  not  one 
stone  would  be  left  standing  upon  another, 
and  the  Jews  would  be  scattered  abroad  in 
poverty  and  destitution,  such  as  I have  de- 
scribed to  you,  and  He  pitied  their  future 
sufferings,  and  said,  “ O Jerusalem,  Jerusa- 
lem, how  olten  would  I have  gathered  th^i 


TME  JEWS  AT  SHIRAZ. 


155 


children  together,  even  as  a hen  gathers  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would 
not !”  No,  they  would  not ! they  rejected  the 
Lord.  The  same  tender  and  compassionate 
voice  is  now  calling  to  us.  Paradise  we  have 
lost,  but  Christ  has  promised  to  those  who 
are  willing  to  become  his  disciples,  to  save 
them  frorn  the  destruction  which  hangs  over 
us  all,  a destruction  as  certain,  and  tar  more 
dreadful  than  that  which  threatened  the  city 
of  the  Jews ; and  to  give  them  a mansion, 
better  than  paradise  itself,  in  the  house  of 
his  Father.  “ See  that  ye  refuse  not  him  that 

speaketh.”  , /•  nr 

The  Jews  at  Shiraz  had  heard  ol  Mr. 
Wolff,  and  of  his  intention  of  visiting  them ; 
when  therefore  the  principal  people  amongst 
them  were  informed  that  he  was  arrived, 
they  assembled  together  in  the  house  of  one 
of  their  rabbies.  Their  high-priest  was  just 
dead.  There  had  been  a dreadful  earth- 
quake at  Shiraz.  An  earthquake  is  a terri- 
ble scene.  Thousands  of  persons  are  some- 
times crushed  to  death  in  the  ruins  of  their 
dwellings,  and  some  are  swallowed  up  in 
the  heavings  of  the  ground.  But  even  when 
that  terror  is  past,  the  distress  of  those  who 
survive  is  generally  very  great ; their  habi- 
tations are  thrown  down,  their  property  is 
destroyed,  and  they  are  driven  out  to  wandei 
in  the  fields,  often  without  sheltei  and  with- 
out food.  The  poor  Jews  who  dwelt  at  Shi- 
raz, were  very  miserable  before  this  misfor- 


156 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


tune  happened  to  them,  but  it  greatly  in- 
creased their  wretchedness.  Their  high- 
priest,  who  loved  his  people,  grieved  for 
them  so  much  that  he  died.  His  death  was 
much  lamented  and  deplored  by  them.  At 
the  time  of  Mr.  Wolff’s  arrival,  his  son  was 
high-priest;  and  he,  with  fifteen  other  Jews, 
assembled  to  receive  him. 

They  sat  down  on  the  ground  in  a circle, 
to  listen  to  what  he  had  to  say  to  them;  and 
he  sat  with  them,  and  thus  addressed  them  : — 
“ On  account  of  the  abundance  of  our  sins — 
on  account  of  the  abundance  of  our  sins,  in 
what  a miserable  state  do  I find  you  hero — 
and  after  what  an  awful  time ! So  poor,  de- 
jected, and  wretched  a people,  as  I have  not 
seen,  my  brethren,  all  the  days  of  my  life. 
Many  of  our  brethren  at  Shiraz,  have  apos- 
tatized from  the  faith,  and  have  forgotten 
Moses  and  the  prophets  altogether,  and  turned 
to  the  Gojim,  the  Mahommedans,  who  have 
been  your  enemies  of  old.  You  are  here  in- 
deed a poor,  poor  Israale  !” 

Then  the  high-priest,  who,  on  account  of 
sickness,  could  scarcely  breathe,  said:  “Tell 
us  the  reason  of  our  misery.”  And  another 
of  the  Jews  said,  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
“ Tell  us  the  reason  of  our  affliction.”  Then 
Mr.  Wolfi'  preached  to  them  Jesus.  Do  you 
think  they  received  the  good  news  of  pardon 
joyfully  ? No — they  listened  to  the  mission- 
ary whilst  he  spoke  that  time,  but  the  Rab- 
bles refused  to  let  the  people  meet  him  again. 


THE  JEWS  AT  SHIRAZ. 


157 


Thev  were  unwilling  to  become  Christians, 
and  rejected  the  instruction  which  was  oflered 
them. 

Mr.  WolfF  deplored  the  fate  of  his  poor 
brethren  at  Shiraz;  but,  since  they  would  not 
listen  to  the  gospel,  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
them  to  their  wretchedness.  He  felt  much 
for  them,  for  he  was  himself  a Jew,  and  God 
having  blest  him,  by  bringing  him  to  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  he  earnestly  desired  to 
make  known  the  good  news  of  salvation  to 
his  unhappy  countrymen.  For  this  purpose, 
he  sought  them  out  in  remote  and  dangerous 
places — particularly  in  the  east,  where  the 
Jews  are  very  much  oppressed,  and  treated 
with  great  cruelty.  Mr.  Wolfl  himself,  often 
met  with  persecution,  and  even  with  ill-treat- 
ment. Once  he  was  seized,  and  severely  bas- 
tinadoed, and  then  carried  away  on  a mule. 
In  consequence  of  this  usage,  he  was  very  ill, 
for  some  weeks.  As  soon  as  he  was  suffi- 
ciently recovered,  they  brought  him  before 
the  divan,  and  he  was  asked,  “Who  are 
you  V’  he  replied,  “ I am  Joseph  Wolff,  a Jew, 
who  believes  in  Jesus,  and  I go  about  to 
teach  this  book  (the  Bible)  I carry,  and  to 
preach  his  name.”  He  was  then  asked,  “ Is 
that -all  you  wish  to  do  I”  “That  is  all,” 
was  his  reply.  So  they  let  him  go,  and 
when  he  was  free,  he  distributed  about  forty 
Bibles,  where  one  had  never  before  been 
seen. 

We  look  for  the  time  to  come,  when  all 
the  Jews  shall  become  Christians,  and  God 

14 


158 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


has  promised,  that  when  they  will  obey  his 
voice,  he  will  have  compassion  upon  them, 
and  gather  them  from  all  the  countries 
whither  they  have  been  driven,  and  “ re- 
ioice  over  them  for  good,  as  he  rejoiced  over 
their  fathers,”  Deut.  xxx.  9. 


THE  RECHABITES. 


Few  children  know  how  dearly  they  are 
beloved  by  their  parents ; but  they  may, 
generally  speaking,  be  sure,  that  they  are 
their  fondest  and  kindest  friends,  and  should 
not  only  be  sincerely  loved,  but  affectionately 
treated.  “ But  if  they  are  loved,  they  will 
be  affectionately  treated,”  perhaps  you  say. 
I think  so  myself,  but  I have  known  many 
children  who  would  be  shocked,  if  they 
were  told  they  did  not  love  their  parents, 
and  who  yet  make  them  very  unhappy, 
by  their  disobedient  and  ungrateful  conduct. 
“Ah,  but  mamma  is  often  very  cross,” 
whispers  to  herself,  the  child  whose  heart 
accuses  her  of  havina;  often  behaved  ill  to 
her  mother.  Suppose  she  were  cross,  nay, 
more,  unjustly  cross,  that  is  never  any  ex- 
cuse for  your  failing  in  your  duty  towards 
her : the  child  who  speaks  a disrespectful 
word,  either  to  its  father  or  its  mother,  com- 
mits a sin  in  the  sight  of  God  which  nothing 
can  excuse:  it  is  written,  “the  eye  that 
mocketh  at  his  father,  and  despiseth  to  obey 
his  mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall 

159 


160 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


pick  it  out,  and  the  young  eagles  shall  eat 
it.”  Disobedience  to  parents,  is  reckoned, 
in  the  New  Testament,  among  the  number 
of  dreadful  sins  practised  by  the  wicked, 
who  are  under  the  wrath  of  God.  If  the 
threatenings  of  the  displeasure  of  God,  lie 
so  heavily  against  those  who  are  disobedient 
children,  the  promises  of  His  mercy  are  given 
to  those  who  keep  His  commandment,  “ to 
honour  their  father  and  their  mother.”  We 
are  told  to  do  it,  “ that  it  may  go  well  with 
us,”  and  if  we  obey,  it  shall  go  well  with 
us,  for  the  promises  of  God  shall  not  fail. 
“ Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,”  says 
our  Saviour,  “ but  my  words  shall  not  pass 
away.”  There  is  a history  in  the  Bible,  so 
much  to  this  purpose,  that  I think  I must  re- 
late it  to  you,  although  it  has  nothing  to  do 
wuth  our  present  subject.  There  was  a 
family  among  the  Jews,  called  Rechabites. 
Jonadab,  one  of  them,  had  commanded  his 
children,  that  they  should  neither  drink 
wine,  build  houses,  nor  plant  fields,  but 
dwell  in  tents.  This  injunction  was  repeated 
from  one  to  the  other,  and  all  the  children 
obeyed,  in  their  turn,  the  direction  of  their 
father.  Their  obedience  pleased  the  Lord. 
In  the  days  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  God 
commanded  him  to  call  the  family  of  the 
Rechabites  together,  and  take  them  into  one 
of  the  chambers  of  the  temple,  and  offer  them 
wine.  Jeremiah  did  as  God  commanded 
him.  He  invited  the  Rechabites,  took  them 
into  a chamber  of  the  temple,  and  setting 


THE  EECHABITES. 


161 


the  cups  of  wine  before  them,  begged  them 
to  drink.  But  though  the  prophet  requested 
them,  they  would  not  disobey  the  command- 
ment of  their  father.  They  said,  “we  will 
drink  no  wine;  for  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Re- 
chab  our  father,  commanded  us,  saying,  “ ye 
shall  drink  no  wine,  neither  ye  nor  your 

sons  for  ever that  ye  may  live  many 

days  in  the  land,  where  ye  be  strangers.” 
The  last  part  of  the  verse  alludes,  probably, 
to  the  promise  of  God: — “ Honour  thy  father 
and  mother,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in 
the  land.”  It  was  but  a small  thing  of  itself, 
their  not  drinking  the  wine ; but  it  was  their 
obedience  to  their  father,  which  was  pleasing 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and  he  desired  Jeremiah 
to  give  them  the  following  promise:  “ Thus, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  God  of  Israel ; 
because  ye  have  obeyed  the  commandment 
of  Jonadab  your  father,  and  kept  all  his 
precepts,  and  done  according  to  all  that  he 
hath  commanded  you : therefore,  thus  saith 
the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  God  of  Israel;  Jona- 
dab, the  son  of  Ilechab,  shall  not  want  a man 
to  stand  before  me  for  ever.”  Such  w'as  the 
promise  of  God.  Two  thousand  years  and 
more  have  elapsed,  since  that  time,  for  you 
know  it  was  long  before  our  Saviour  came 
upon  earth.  Jerusalem  has  been  razed  to 
its  foundation — not  one  stone  is  left  to 
stand  upon  another — the  Jews  are  scat- 
tered among  all  the  nations  of  the  world, 
and  for  nearly  eighteen  hundred  years, 
their  country  has  been  in  the  possession 
14* 


162 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


of  strangers;  yet  the  descendants  of  Re- 
chab  are  still  found  dwelling  in  their  native 
land.  They  were  seen  there  by  a traveller,* 
who  visited  those  remote  places,  about  the 
year  1540;  and  this  account  of  them  was 
confirmed,  of  very  late  years,  by  the  mis- 
sionary, Mr.  Wolff.  If  any  little  child  shall 
learn  to  check  one  angry  tone,  or  one  impa- 
tient word  addressed  to  a parent,  I shall  be 
glad  that  I have  given  you  the  history  of  the 
Kechabites,  and  you  will  find  more  concern- 
ing them  in  the  Bible.  But  there  is  another 
still  better  and  holier  example  set  before  you, 
even  that  of  our  blessed  Saviour  himself,  for 
we  are  told,  that  he  “was  subject”  unto  his 
parents. 


* Benjamin  of  Tudela, 


SKENANDO, 

THE  WHITE  man’s  FRIEND. 


Many  hundred  years  ago,  some  English  peo- 
ple, who  were  persecuted  in  their  own  coun- 
try, thought,  that  they  should  like  to  go  and 
build  themselves  a village  or  town  in  Ame- 
rica, where  they  might  live  in  peace.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  came,  and  though  they  suf- 
fered  great  hardships,  of  which  numbeisdied, 
yet  the  remainder  kept  possession  of  their 
new  colony,  and  prospered.  Seeing  this, 
more  English  people  came  out  to  them,  and 
their  numbers  increased  so  rapidly,  that  they 
began  to  build  other  towns,  and  form  other 
settlements.  The  Indians,  at  first,  offered 
them  no  interruption;  but  when  they  saw 
them  cutting  down  their  forests,  and  clearing 
away  their  woods,  and  taking  possession  of 
such  a quantity  of  land,  they  began  to  get 
frightened,  and  to  think  they  intended  to  take 
away  their  country  altogether.  Now,  the 
Indians  said,  that  those  woods  were  theirs, 
that  their  Father,  the  Great  Spirit  had  given 
them  to  his  “ red  children,”  meaning  them- 
selves, for  their  skin  is  red;  and  that  the  pale 

163 


164 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


faces,  that  is  the  English,  should  not  liv^e 
there.  But  this  resolution  was  made  too  late, 
for  the  “ pale  faces”  had  got  possession. 
The  dwellings  of  the  white  people,  were  not 
all  in  one  place,  or  the  Indians  could  not 
have  ventured  to  attack  them.  They  were 
scattered  about.  A few  families,  perhaps, 
would  agree  together,  and  travel  hundreds 
of  miles  through  the  pathless  forest,  directing 
their  way,  I suppose  by  the  stars,  as  people 
do  when  they  sail  across  the  ocean : when 
they  came  to  a place  they  thought  they 
should  like,  they  stopped  there,  unpacked 
the  goods  they  had  brought  with  them,  and 
built  themselves  log  houses,  cutting  down  the 
trees  all  round,  and  leaving  an  open  space, 
which  they  called  a “ clearing.”  Thus  they 
were  alone  in  the  desert,  suri’ounded  on  all 
sides  by  a black  and  gloomy  forest,  where 
lived  their  fierce  enemies,  who  were  watch- 
ing for  opportunities  to  destroy  them.  The 
Indians  were  extremely  cunning  and  artful ; 
they  crept  about  unseen,  and  unknown, 
among  the  dark  shades  of  the  forest,  and 
when  the  English  people  thought  them  many 
miles  away,  they  were  suddenly  startled,  per- 
haps in  the  middle  of  the  night,  by  a terrific 
scream,  called  the  war-whoop,  which  was 
the  signal  that  the  Indians  were  about  to 
rush  upon  them.  Then  they  poured  by  hun-'' 
dreds,  into  the  clearing,  burning  down  the 
houses,  and  murdering  the  people ; the  chil- 
dren they  sometimes  carried  away,  and 
brought  them  up,  to  be  heathen  and  savages 


SKENANDO}  THE  WHITE  MAn’s  FRIEND.  165 

like  themselves.  There  are  many  interest- 
ing stories  told  of  those  times,  and  of  the 
patience  and  courage,  with  which  the  set- 
tlers preserved  their  little  dwellings  from  the 
savages.  There  w^as  once  a man  of  the 
name  of  Dustan,  who  lived  with  a few  other 
people  in  the  wilderness  ; a large  and  popu- 
lous town  with  streets,  and  roads,  and  fine 
houses,  now  stands  in  that  place ; but  at  the 
time,  I am  speaking  of,  it  was  a desolate  spot 
where  a few  solitary  families  lived,  surround- 
ed by  a gloomy  forest.  Dustan  was  absent 
from  home  at  his  usual  occupations,  when 
he  heard  the  alarm  given  that  the  Indians 
had  attacked  the  settlement.  He  immediately 
flew  to  his  house  which  the  Indians  had  not 
yet  attacked ; he  had  seven  children,  and  not 
knowing  in  what  other  way  to  provide  for 
their  safety,  he  ordered  them  to  run  away 
in  an  opposite  direction  to  that  in  which  the 
Indians  were  approaching,  and  he  himsell 
ran  to  the  room  where  his  poor  wife  was  ill 
in  bed,  but  before  she  could  get  up,  the  In- 
dians were  upon  them.  Despairing  of  being 
able  to  save  her,  he  next  thought  of  his  little 
children ; he  flew  to  the  yard,  mounted  his 
horse,  and  rode  off  in  the  direction  he  had 
told  them  to  take : he  could  not  carry  them 
all  on  his  horse,  so  he  determined  he  would 
take  the  one  he  loved  best.  When  he  came 
up  with  them,  however,  he  could  not  decide 
which  that  one  was,  therefore  he  resolved  to 
endeavour  to  save  them  all,  or  else  to  die 
with  them.  He  made  them  run  on  as  fast  as 


166 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


possible,  and  he  rode  behind  them.  They 
had  not  gone  very  far,  when  the  Indians  were 
heard  yelling  and  shouting  behind  them,  and 
when  they  came  near  enough  they  fired  at 
them,  but  they  were  not  hurt,  for  their  father 
placed  himself  between  them  and  the  Indians, 
and  w'hen  they  fired,  he  turned  round,  and 
fired  also.  In  this  way,  he  and  his  little  com- 
pany retreated,  till  they  reached  a distant 
house,  where  they  were  once  more  lodged  in 
safety. 

The  Indians  were  divided  into  tribes,  and 
Skenando,  whose  history  I am  about  to  re- 
late to  you,  was  chief  of  a tribe,  called  the 
Oneidas,  a proud  and  warlike  race  of  men, 
to  whom  a large  tract  of  the  country  be- 
longed. Many  years  had  now  passed,  and 
the  English  who  had  come  to  America,  began 
to  think  that  they  ought  to  endeavour  to  in- 
struct the  heathen  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  and 
when  missionaries  were  found  who  were 
willing  to  go  and  live  amongst  them,  they 
w'ere  sent  to  the  diflerent  tribes.  Mr.  Kirk- 
land w’as  the  name  of  the  one,  who  went  to 
the  Oneidas.  I have  no  doubt  that  Skenando 
received  him  kindly,  for  the  Indians  are  very 
polite  to  the  strangers,  whom  they  do  not 
consider  as  their  enemies.  They  address  them 
by  the  terms  of  “ Father,”  and  “ Brother,” 
always  listen  very  attentively  to  W'hat  they 
have  to  say,  and  reply  with  respect  and  pro- 
priety. 

It  pleased  God  to  bless  his  instructions, 
and  Skenando,  at  that  time  sachem  of  the 


SKENANDO,  THE  WHITE  MAN’s  FRIEND.  167 

Oneidas  became  a Christian,  and  many  others 
of  his  people.  They  endeavoured  in  turn  to 
instruct  their  countrymen  under  Mr.  Kirk- 
land’s direction,  and  they  displayed  a degree 
of  sense  and  intelligence  rarely  found  among 
savages : which  you  will  see  if  you  read  the 
following  address,  made  by  a Christian  Oneida 
to  the  rest.  “What,  my  brethren,”  said  he, 
“ are  the  views  which  you  form  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Jesus  ? You  will  answer,  perhaps, 
he  was  very  benevolent : that  he  proved  this 
by  the  nature  of  the  miracles  he  wrought, 
which  were  all  kind  in  the  extreme : he 
created  bread  to  feed  thousands — he  raised 
to  life  the  son  of  a poor  woman  who  was  a 
widow.  Are  these  your  only  views  of  the 
Saviour?  I tell  you  they  are  lame:  when 
Christ  came  into  the  world,  he  threw  his 
mantle  around  him,  but  the  God  was  within.” 
Skenando  at  this  time  was  about  fifty  years 
old.  When  he  became  a Christian,  he  pro- 
tected the  English  from  the  cruel  attacks  of 
his  countrymen,  so  that  he  was  known 
amongst  them  by  the  name  of  “the  White 
Man’s  Friend.”  His  care  and  watchfulness 
once  preserved  the  inhabitants  of  a whole 
settlement  from  being  murdered.  He  was 
warmly  attached  to  Mr.  Kirkland,  and  seems 
always  to  have  looked  upon  him  as  the  best 
of  friends  and  benefactors.  He  lived  sixty 
years  after  he  became  a Christian,  and  during 
the  whole  of  that  time,  never  returned  to  his 
former  wicked  practices.  He  lived  to  be  a 
very  aged  man,  one  hundred  and  ten  years 


168 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


old : he  said  once  to  a friend  who  went  to 
visit  him,  “ I am  an  aged  hemlock,*  the  winds 
of  an  hundred  winters  have  whistled  through 
my  branches — I am  dead  at  the  top.  The 
generation  to  which  I belonged  have  run 
away  and  left  me — why  I live,  the  Great 
Good  Spirit  only  knows.  Pray  to  my  Jesus 
that  I may  have  patience  to  wait  for  my  ap- 
pointed time  to  die.” 

Mr.  Kirkland  died,  and  was  buried  at  a 
place  called  Clinton,  and  Skenando  had  a 
great  desire  to  be  laid  in  the  same  grave  with 
his  beloved  Christian  teacher ; and,  for  this 
purpose,  during  the  last  years  of  his  life  he 
came  often  to  Clinton,  to  die,  longing  that 
his  spirit  might  be  with  Christ,  and  his  body 
in  the  grave.  A person  w'ho  visited  him  at 
the  approach  of  death,  found  him  calm  and 
serene,  listening  to  the  prayers  which  were 
read  at  his  bedside  by  his  great  grand-daugh- 
ter. Thus  he  remained  cheerful  and  resigned 
to  the  last,  and  died,  after  having  proved  by 
an  altered  life,  during  the  length  of  sixty 
years,  the  sincerity  of  that  conversion  to  the 
faith  of  Christ,  with  which  God  was  pleased 
to  bless,  in  his  case,  the  labours  of  the  mis- 
sionary. He  was  a great  warrior,  the  sachem 
of  his  tribe,  and  the  place  of  his  residence 
where  he  died,  was  called  Oneida  Castle. 
The  “pale  faces”  now  have  got  possession 

* The  hemlock  is  a sort  of  pine  tree,  which  grows  to 
a gigantic  height  in  the  American  forests.  Dr.  Dwight 
says,  a white  pine  has  been  found  on  the  Connecticut 
rirer,  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  feet  long. 


SKENANDO,  THE  WHITE  MAn’s  FRIEND.  169 

of  the  country  of  the  Indians ; those  mighty 
woods  which  were  their  hunting  grounds, 
and  under  whose  shadow  their  wigwams 
stood,  have  been  for  the  most  part  cut  down 
and  carried  away  by  the  whites ; and  the 
towns  and  villages  of  America  occupy  the 
place  where  they  stood.  The  very  ground  is 
called  by  another  name.  The  Indian  name  of 
a river  or  a stream,  which  still  may  be  heard 
occasionally,  is  almost  the  only  recollection 
left  of  them  in  many  parts  of  the  country 
which  belonged  to  their  fathers.  Poor, 
miserable,  and  forlorn,  they  hide  themselves 
in  distant  tracts  of  the  country  which  was 
once  their  owm. 

And  what  can  we  do  for  them  ? Much — 
We  can  send  them  missionaries  to  teach  them 
about  Christ,  and  tell  them  the  good  news  of 
salvation.  If  they  receive  it,  it  will  be  to 
them  a more  precious  gift  than  their  own 
country,  even  if  we  had  the  means  of  giving 
it  back  to  them  again.  “Ah,”  says  my  little 
reader,  “ but  I could  not  give  to  all  the  mis- 
sionary societies — that  would  be  quite  impos- 
sible, unless  I were  very  rich.”  The  question 
is  not  whether  you  give  to  all  the  missionary 
societies,  but  whether  you  give  all  that  you 
can;  whether  you  remember  that  Christ  has 
taught  you  to  pray,  that  his  kingdom  may 
come,  and  ask  in  your  prayers  that  the  hea- 
then may  become  Christians.  That  glorious 
day  will  come : blessed  are  they  who  shall 
see  it ! and  blessed  are  they  to  whom  God 
has  given  the  power  and  the  means  to  assist, 
15 


170 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


if  ever  so  little,  in  that  glorious  work ! and  to 
whom  has  he  not  given  it  ? Do  you  not  re- 
member the  poor  widow  who  threw  in  a small 
piece  of  money,  less  than  a farthing,  into  the 
treasury;  and  Christ  saw  the  gift;  and  said  it 
was  accepted  ? And  so  he  will  accept  now 
the  smallest  contribution  that  is  made,  out  of 
love  to  him,  and  with  a desire  to  keep  his 
commandments;  and  you  know  the  last  com- 
mandment which  he  gave  to  his  disciples, 
was — “ Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature.” 


A TEUE  STORY  OF  A YOUNG  JEW. 


There  was  once  a young  Jew,  in  whom  God 
raised  up  a spirit  of  inquiry,  and  a desire  to 
find  out  the  truth;  and,  in  consequence,  he 
determined  upon  reading  the  New  Testament. 
Here  he  found  so  many  of  the  prophecies  of 
his  own  scripture  fulfilled  in  Christ,  that  he 
anxiously  desired  to  learn  more.  He  occa- 
sionally attended  church,  and  became  more 
and  more  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  Jesus  was  indeed  the  Mes- 
siah that  should  come  into  the  world.  His 
parents  and  friends  took  great  alarm,  and 
insisted  upon  his  scrupulously  fulfilling  all 
Jewish  rites,  and  forbade  him  to  have  any  in- 
tercourse with  Christians.  Hoping  to  retain 
him  among  them,  they  persuaded  him  to 
marry  a young  Jewess,  that,  by  her  influence, 
his  conversion  to  Christianity  might  be  pre- 
vented. But,  becoming  more  firmly  rooted 
in  the  faith,  he  prayed  eai’nestly  that  his  wife 
might  know  and  love  the  same  Saviour  as  he 
did.  God  answered  his  prayer;  she  also 
read  the  New  Testament  with  him,  and 
sought  with  him  the  salvation  of  her  soul. 

171 


172 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


God  had  now  given  them  three  children. 
They  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  bringing 
them  up  in  Jewisli  darkness,  and  yet  feared 
openly  to  confess  their  faith.  He  loved  his 
parents  tenderly,  and  it  grieved  him  mhch  to 
distress  them,  beside  bringing  upon  himself 
their  contempt  and  hatred,  and,  what  he 
knew  would  also  follow,  their  bitter  persecu- 
tion. But  he  remembered  what  his  Saviour 
had  declared, — that  those  who  loved  father 
or  mother  more  than  him,  were  not  worthy 
of  him;  and  he  resolved  publicly  to  confess 
Christ  and  to  be  baptized. 

Immediately  afterwards,  his  sister  came  to 
see  him,  and  when  she  found  that  he  had  in- 
deed been  baptized,  she  loaded  him  with  re- 
proaches and  bitter  taunts,  and  was  so  over- 
come by  her  feelings,  that  she  was  attacked 
with  several  severe  fits.  Another  sister, 
whom  he  dearly  loved,  came  the  next  day  to 
try  to  win  him  back.  She  sat  for  hours  weep- 
ing and  entreating  him  to  return;  but  he  re- 
plied that,  painful  as  it  was  to  part  with  them, 
he  must  surrender  them  rather  than  reject 
Christ,  He  felt  it  then  to  be  his  duty  to  see 
his  father,  who  bitterly  reproached  him,  and 
told  him  that  his  conduct  was  heart-breaking. 
His  aged  mother  wept,  and  implored  him  to 
get  the  high-priest  to  make  an  atonement  for 
him,  and  impose  such  a penance  as  would 
wash  away  his  sin  and  restore  him  to  them. 
When  they  found  he  would  not  be  persuaded, 
they  drove  him  from  the  house,  forbidding 
him  ever  to  enter  it  again. 


A TRUE  STORY  OF  A YOUNG  JEW.  173 

This  was  indeed  a fiery  trial  of  his  faith. 
Soon  after,  his  wife  had  a severe  illness,  and 
she  longed  for  the  kind  care  of  his  mother, 
which  she  had  always  received  before  her 
conversion  to  Christianity,  and  she  wrote  to 
her.  The  only  reply  was  a note  sealed  with 
a black  seal,  to  show  that  they  were  con- 
sidered dead  by  the  family,  and  must  never 
expect  to  receive  any  thing  from  them.  All 
his  relations  went  through  the  Jewish  rite  of 
mourning  for  the  dead.  J'hey  shut  themselves 
up  for  a week,  sitting  all  day  upon  the  ground, 
tearing  their  dress,  and  taking  no  other  food 
than  hard  eggs  and  salt.  But  the  poor  suf- 
ferers trusted  in  God,  who  raised  up  many 
kind  friends  to  assist  them  from  time  to  time. 

From  various  circumstances,  they  removed 
from  place  to  place,  and  sometimes  were 
obliged  to  sell  their  furniture  to  buy  bread. 
One  day  in  December,  they  placed  their  four 
children  in  a cart,  for  not  one  of  them  could 
walk  from  weakness.  They  wrapped  them  up 
in  the  few  warm  clothes  they  had,  and  vyalked 
behind  them.  When  they  reached  their  new 
lodging,  the  carman  asked  so  much  that  not 
a penny  was  left  for  food  or  firing:  in  silent 
sorrow  they  unpacked  their  things  and  ar- 
ranged their  little  room,  still  trusting  in  God. 
To  their  surprise,  a loud  knock  was  heard  at 
the  door;  it  was  the  carman,  who  returned 
with  a loaf  and  a large  piece  of  meat.  The 
Jew  urged  him  to  take  it  back,  saying,  if  he 
had  not  charged  too  much,  all  was  right. 
“No,”  said  the  carman,  “I  cannot;  I,  too, 
15* 


174 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


have  children.”  It  was  God  who  overruled 
the  heart  of  the  carman,  for  they  had  not 
complained  to  him  of  want. 

In  January,  the  father  tried  to  support 
them  by  going  about  with  a basket  and  selling 
a few  things.  Sometimes  he  was  successful, 
but  often  returned  without  having  gained 
anything,  and  the  labour  of  dragging  about  a 
heavy  basket  all  day,  was  very  trying  to  one 
who  was  so  weak.  Scanty  meals,  poor  fires, 
and  little  clothing  brought  them  all  to  a very 
distressed  state. 

On  one  bitterly  cold  morning,  before  he 
went  out  with  his  basket,  he  divided  the  only 
morsel  of  bread  he  had  among  his  children, 
telling  them  to  call  on  the  Lord,  and  wait  pa- 
tiently till  he  sent  them  more.  The  whole 
day  passed  and  nothing  was  sold;  and,  al- 
though he  felt  sinking  with  fatigue  and 
hunger,  the  thought  of  his  wife  and  famished 
children  at  home,  without  food  or  fire, 
doubled  his  sorrow.  On  his  way  home, 
passing  a chapel,  he  went  in,  hoping  to  hear 
something  that  might  revive  him.  What 
was  his  joy,  when  a friend,  seeing  his  haggard 
looks,  gave  him  two  shillings  ! How  small  a 
sum  may  often  relieve  the  deepest  distress ! 
How  many  w’aste  much  larger  sums  unthink- 
ing of  the  good  they  might  accomplish ! 
Upon  his  return  home,  he  found  all  in  dark- 
ness; he  called,  but  no  one  answered;  he 
rushed  into  the  next  room  for  a light,  and 
found  his  wife  lying  insensible  on  the  bed, 
quite  pale,  and  the  little  ones  asleep;  he 


A TRUE  STORY  OF  A YOUNG  JEW.  175 


hastily  lighted  a fire,  and  made  some  tea,  im- 
ploring his  heavenly  Father  to  restore  his 
wife.  She  gradually  revived,  but  it  was  an 
hour  before  she  had  strength  to  ask  how  God 
had  supplied  their  need.  She  told  him  that 
she  had  tried  to  amuse  the  children,  till,  hun- 
gry and  benumbed  with  cold,  she  had  put 
them  to  bed,  covering  them  with  all  she 
could  find ; and  that,  feeling  ill  from  anxiety, 
weakness,  and  hunger,  she  had  thrown  her- 
self upon  the  bed,  and  had  fallen  into  a state 
of  insensibility.  The  next  morning,  their 
kind  minister  brought  them  money,  which 
paid  their  rent,  and  purchased  fuel  and  food. 
Another  friend  afterwards  sent  them  a hamper 
of  provisions  and  some  money;  but,  in  the 
bustle  of  unpacking,  the  little  parcel  of  silver 
was  mislaid,  and  they  knew  nothing  about  it. 
They  had  some  debts  to  pay,  which  made 
them  uneasy ; and,  sweeping  their  room  the 
following  Saturday,  they  found  the  little 
packet,  which  was  just  the  amount  they  re- 
quired. By  these,  and  similar  providences, 
their  faith  was  confirmed,  and  their  gratitude 
and  love  were  increased. 

Few  are  aware  of  the  hardships  to  which 
a Jew  is  exposed  upon  becoming  a Christian. 
He  is  rejected  by  all  his  old  friends,  cast  out, 
and  left  to  starve. 

Dear  children,  pray  for  those  Jews  who 
are  beginning  to  be  persuaded  that  Jesus  is 
their  Saviour,  and  their  Lord,  that  they  may 
have  courage  to  speak  out,  and  suffer  the 
loss  of  all  things  for  his  name’s  sake.  And 


176 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


always  help  them  when  you  can.  In  helping 
them,  you  are  helping  Him,  who  will  say,  by 
and  by,  “Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto 
one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me.” 


9 


JUSSIONAET  CaVIiNG  TRACTS. 


GIRLS’  SCHOOLS  IN  INDIA. 


A MISSIONARY  in  India,  on  making  his  ac- 
customed visit  to  one  of  the  villages  round 
his  station,  found  a poor  woman  who  was 
very  ill,  and  in  a shocking  state.  He  sent 
her  to  his  own  home  by  one  of  the  men  of  the 
village,  requesting  his  wife  to  use  some 
means  for  her  recovery.  She  looked  at  the 
poor  woman,  who  presented  a sad  spectacle 
of  disease  and  filth,  and  thought  to  herself, 
“ If  there  was  not  a soul  in  that  body,  I never 
could  summon  up  courage,  or  self-denial 
enough,  to  attend  upon  such  a miserable 
being.”  But  she  did  attend  upon  her — and, 
beyond  all  expectation  or  hope,  the  woman 
became  well.  And  she  came  with  a smile, 
such  as  no  one  would  have  thought  her  poor 
senseless  fqce  could  ever  have  worn,  and 
made  her  salaam  to  the  good  missionary’s 
wife,  thanking  her  for  what  she  had  done  for 
her. 

“ But,  my  good  woman,”  said  the  mission- 
ary’s wife,  “ suppose  you  had  died  during 
that  illness,  where  would  your  soul  have 
gone  ?” 


177 


178 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


“ My  soul,  my  mother, — what  soul  have  I ? 
I am  only  a woman.” 

“ Oh  ! but  you  have  a soul,”  said  the  other. 
“ No,  my  mother,  no.  lam  only  a woman” 
was  all  she  would  reply. 

Again  she  was  assured  that  she  had  a soul, 
that  would  live  for  ever;  and  again,  with  a 
vacant  laugh,  she  returned  the  same  answer. 

“ But  indeed  you  have  a soul,  and  what  do 
you  think  would  have  become  of  it  V' 

“What  do  I knowl”  said  the  poor  igno- 
rant creature.  “ / am  only  a woman.  But  if 
I have,  I suppose  when  my  body  was  burnt, 
and  the  ashes  flew  away,  my  spirit  would 
fly  away  with  them.” 

“ No,”  said  the  missionary’s  wife,  “ you 
will  live  for  ever,  either  in  joy  or  in  misery. 
Would  not  you  like  to  know  more  about  your 
never-dying  soul  1 W on’t  you  go  and  hear 
master,  when  he  preaches  under  the  tree  in 
your  village  1” 

The  poor  creature  looked  perfectly  as- 
tonished, and  exclaimed,  “ How  can  / go  ? / 
am  only  a woman.” 

And  this  is  the  condition  of  women  in  India. 
Poor  India ! Think  of  the  good  which  Chris- 
tian women  do  ! But  Hindoo  women  can’t 
do  any  good.  They  are  despised  and  tram- 
pled upon.  They  are  nothing  better  than 
wretched  slaves.  A wife  is  not  allowed  to 
eat  in  her  husband’s  presence.  If  he  were 
seen  talking  to  her,  it  would  be  thought  a dis- 
grace. If  any  visitors  call,  she  must  not  sit 
down  with  them  ; but,  if  she  is  seen  at  all,  she 


GIKLS’  SCHOOLS  IN  INDIA.  179 

must  stand  up  as  a servant.  Instead  of  the 
father  and  mother,  and  children,  all  sitting 
round  the  same  table  at  meals,  as  they  do  in 
our  happy  country,  the  father  is  served  first, 
then  his  sons,  and  the  mother  must  not  sit 
while  they  are  eating,  but  stand  at  a distance, 
and  look  another  way,  taking  care  to  listen, 
if  they  should  want  her  to  wait  upon  them ; 
then,  after  they  have  finished,  they  tell  her  to 
take  what  they  have  left. 

Don’t  think  that  it  is  grown  up  women  only 
that  are  so  badly  treated.  Little  girls,  when 
they  are  babies,  are  often  left  at  night,  in 
some  lonely  spot,  to  be  carried  off  by  tigers, 
or  other  beasts  of  prey.  If  they  are  not  thus 
cast  away,  they  are  brought  up  like  slaves, 
in  their  father’s  house,  till  they  are  ten  or 
eleven  years  of  age.  Then  they  are  married 
or  betrothed,  and  taken  to  live  in  the  house 
of  their  husband,  where  they  are  often  very 
cruelly  treated  by  their  husbands’  relations. 

Oh!  it  makes  my  heart  sad  to  think  of  the 
women  of  India — of  the  hardships  they  under- 
go, and  the  dark  cloud  of  ignorance  that  rests 
upon  their  souls.  What  shall  be  done  for 
them?  We  must  have  schools  for  Indian 
girls.  We  must  take  them  while  they  are 
young,  and  teach  them  better.  We  must 
give  them  that  knowledge  that  will  change 
their  course  of  life  in  this  world,  and  will 
prepare  them  for  life  eternal.  India  will  be 
happy  then,  when  it  is  full  of  Christian 
women. 

There  are  many  girls’  schools  in  India, 


180 


MISSIONARY  TALES. 


though  not  half  enough.  What  I have  been 
trying  to  do  now,  is  to  show  you  how  much 
such  schools  are  wanted.  Dear  little  girls, 
do  what  you  can  for  your  little  Indian  sisters. 
Give  all  you  can  for  the  support  of  schools. 
Perhaps,  some  of  you,  when  you  grow  up, 
will  have  an  opportunity  of  going  to  India,  to 
teach  Hindoo  girls.  If  so,  bless  God  for  so 
unspeakable  an  honour.  Yes,  I hope  some 
of  xjou  will  be  missionaries.  Christ  wants 
labourers  for  his  vineyard.  The  church 
wants  help  in  its  work  abroad.  The  ques- 
tion is  asked,  “ Whom  shall  I send,  and  who 
will  go  for  us  I”  I hope  that,  by  and  by, 
many  of  my  little  readers  will  be  found  among 
tliose  who  say,  “ Lord,  here  am  I : send  meP 


THE  END. 


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